Would you say that Build a Rocket Boy and IO Interactive's MindsEye is indicative of the quality of the Scottish gaming industry as a whole? If you would, then you'd seemingly be in agreement with none other than UKIE trade body head Nick Poole.
Speaking on LinkedIn (as spotted by ResetEra user RedbullCola) ahead of a visit to Scottish capital Edinburgh, Poole said the next couple of years will be "really exciting for Scotland's video game and interactive entertainment industry".
He goes on to say that Scotland has a "really dynamic grassroots ecosystem", as well as "some major emerging players and leading work-for-hire studios and service providers". This all seems fairly innocent so far, but at the bottom of the post, Poole includes a (very low-res) shot of concept art for MindsEye.
While Poole doesn't specifically say that MindsEye is an exemplar of the Scottish industry, the inclusion of the picture does seem to suggest that he thinks it's a good example of what the country can produce in terms of gaming.
One rather suspects that this either means Poole has terrible gaming taste or that he hasn't actually played MindsEye, and if the latter is true, he also doesn't appear to have paid attention to any of the discussion surrounding the game.
In case you need a reminder, MindsEye launched earlier this year to a disastrous reception, which appears to have led to developer Build a Rocket Boy laying off more than 100 employees in the game's wake.
The launch went so badly that it even seems to have prompted publisher IO Interactive to rethink its relationship to third-party publishing, which is a pretty impressive feat, although probably not in the way Build a Rocket Boy would like.
What's particularly galling about Poole's comments is that Rockstar North, the developer behind Grand Theft Auto V, is based in Edinburgh, and it would have been incredibly easy to point to that game's insane level of success as an example of the power of the Scottish gaming industry.
One rather hopes that someone points out to Poole, who heads up one of the UK's most important and influential gaming bodies, that MindsEye isn't the best example to lead with when praising Scotland, but only time will tell.
