Remember Midnight Society, the studio co-founded by Guy ‘Dr. Disrespect’ Beahm who was later ousted after it was disclosed that the reason for his Twitch ban was for sexting a minor? The studio announced its closure on Thursday, January 30, 2025, without shipping any title.
“Today we are announcing Midnight Society will be closing its doors after three incredible years, with an amazing team of over 55 developers contributing to our new IP DEADROP,” read the message shared on X.
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Midnight Society was founded in 2021 by Dr Disrespect, Sumit Gupta (a popular figure in esports), Robert Bowling (a Call of Duty creative strategist), and Quinn DelHoyo (lead sandbox designer for Halo). They received the backing of prominent venture capital firms, angel investors, and influential strategic partners. Before its closure, they were working on Deadrop, a PVP multiplayer FPS.
“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 message ended.
At the time of writing, we could not access their website. Several attempts ended with the message “midnightsociety.com took too long to respond”. The company has been harshly criticized for siphoning investors’ money without having anything to show for it and not offering a refund.
Ex Midnight Society devs share memorable experiences
Several people impacted by the closure of Midnight Society have posted about their experience during the 3+ years that the studio existed. The majority of them were grateful for the experience while hoping to land new opportunities.
“Unfortunately late last week it was announced that Midnight Society will be shutting down,” wrote Brandon Mays, lead 3D character artist. “It’s been a wild ride for nearly 3 years and I’m incredibly grateful for the experience. Everybody on the team was incredibly talented and I’m proud of what we were able to build with such a small team with huge ambitions. Getting to know and work with the team was by far the best part.”
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Illustrator S.w. Rand who worked with the company between April 2022 and October 2022 suggested he was forced out of the company. In a post on LinkedIn, he said, “RIP to Midnight Society. I have a lot of feelings about this bc it was a dream job for me. My exit, I did not like so much. Frankly, it was heartbreaking. As this industry has taught me to realize it’s not a fair one.”
“With the studio closure of Midnight Society, my time there has unfortunately come to an end,” wrote senior environment artist Kyle Tallant. “While it’s tough to say goodbye, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside such talented colleagues and for everything I’ve learned along the way. Though fairly brief, working on Deadrop was one of the most fulfilling times in my career thus far. Over the coming days, I’ll showcase more of my work on the project.”
Design Director Colin Fogle, a former pro player turned designer was saddened by what he called the sudden shuttering of Midnight Society, adding that “I’m officially hashtag#OpenToWork and *still* on a passion-fueled rampage for bringing players together into tight-knit communities, crafting highly social multiplayer features which foster lifelong friendships and building gameplay experiences which you excitedly recall years later.”
“As a former pro player turned designer, I’m obsessed with the details and bring a deep sense of empathy for highly engaged players which spend thousands of hours with our products. This is at the core of both my design & leadership approaches, aiming to create comfortable third spaces which respect both the time commitment & mental health of players.”
Many others who previously worked in the studio have commented on the shuttering with one senior marketing and creative content management saying, “My proudest moment was when my idea for a unique cipher was used to bestow unique player identities, hype up the community, and leave clues for upcoming events.”
The problem with celebrity-led projects
Celebrity-led project is a murky path. You must tread cautiously, especially as an investor or a studio. Fans and investors who invested in Midnight Society’s NFT and studio projects respectively are already counting their losses.
A comment from @HarryBotter83 under the post announcing the studio’s closure on X read, “Just out here taking millions of dollars of peoples money just to never launch the game and not provide refunds. Solid.”
@OKEricles wrote “Refund the NFT holders.”
The problem with celebrity-led projects is that the success of the project will continue to lie on the loyalty of the celebrity to the project and on their being of their best behavior. Whenever there is a fallout between the celebrity and the project, everything will come crashing down like a pack of cards.
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The moment Dr Disrespect was booted out of the company in a questionable manner, it was only a matter of time before the studio followed. The reason is that when companies use celebrities to market a product, the loyalty of the customers will remain to the celebrity and not to the product. They will continue to patronize as long as their “leader” gives the nod.
So, once the celebrity leaves the project or product, they will most likely take the majority of their followers along. This is not the first time we have witnessed a fallout between celebrities and the brand they were supposed to market.
In 2023, Activision removed 2 Call of Duty streamers’ skins from their store after one of the streamers allegedly made a comment that was perceived to be anti-LGBT. That decision likely cost Activision a lot of development money.
Will my opinion stop studios and investors from pouring their money into celebrity or celebrity-led projects? Most unlikely! Why? Because investing in celebrities is a hyper-niched marketing strategy with higher success of drawing in quick numbers—considering how obsessed some fans are with celebrities, and swallow everything that comes from them hook, lines, and sinkers.
However, it is always important to weigh the risks involved. Studios should spend time to know the celebrities they want to partner with beyond the scripted stage fanfare. Most importantly, there should be a contingency plan should the collaboration fail prematurely.
