Dr Disrespect’s Midnight Society studio shuts down before releasing its first game

Midnight Society, the game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect (real name Herschel “Guy” Beahm) has shut down, killing the first-person shooter title it was developing. The studio made “significant” layoffs in September after terminating its relationship with the controversial streamer in June due to “inappropriate” messages he exchanged with a minor.

Within hours of the closure, YouTube, which also took action against Beahm in June by demonetizing his account, decided to reinstate the streamer’s ability to make money on Google’s video platform. The decision was made after “careful review of the channel’s recent activity,” YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle told The Verge. “If there are further violations, we’ll take appropriate action.”

Midnight Society was co-founded in 2021 by Beahm, former Call of Duty creative strategist Robert Bowling, and former 343 Industries lead sandbox designer Quinn Delhoyo.

“We are actively seeking other game studios that would be interested in offering employment opportunities to our talented team members,” Midnight Society said in its shutdown announcement on X. “We express our sincere gratitude to each and every one of our community members and deeply sorry we were unable to reach our ultimate goal.”

The “ultimate goal” mentioned in Midnight Society’s departing message was Deadrop — a free-to-play vertical extraction shooter that was initially funded by selling NFTs at the height of the blockchain gaming frenzy. Deadrop was expected to release in 2024, and was the only game being developed by Midnight Society.