Controversial streamer Guy “Dr. DisRespect” Beahm announced on Tuesday the formation of Midnight Society, a triple-A video game studio headed by the streamer, former 343 developer Quinn DelHoyo, and former Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling. According to the studio’s website, the company plans to take a ‘player-first’ approach to video game development.
“We flip the tables on the traditional video game development model and embrace the ‘Day Zero Community’. That means including our players […] from the earliest most inception,” read Midnight Society’s site. The site mentioned that players could be contacted to test things like reload times, recoil patterns, or to try out a game’s multiplayer for the first time. The studio also announced that it is currently hiring in various fields, including design, art, audio, engineering, and marketing.
The studio didn’t share too much regarding what its first project will be, but a blog post on the site stated it would be a shooter of some kind and that it would be built on Unreal Engine 5. The studio’s three co-founders have all worked on first-person shooters throughout their game development careers. Beahm was formerly a level designer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare prior to becoming a full-time streamer, while Bowling worked for Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward for six years. DelHoyo previously worked for 343 Industries on the Halo series, a team he departed one day prior to Tuesday’s announcement.
The studio’s ‘player-first’ mentality could be seen as a response to player criticism surrounding multiple first-person shooter titles released in 2021, namely Halo Infinite, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Battlefield 2042. Each title was subject to harsh feedback by their respective communities, and it looks like this studio might intend to capitalize on those communities’ desires to play a more active role during development.
