It’s a chaotic period for those associated with Guy Beahm, the streamer known as Dr Disrespect, who recently admitted to being banned from Twitch for inappropriately messaging a minor.
Friends, brands, and even a professional football team have severed ties with the streamer. However, the most personal loss for Beahm was his dismissal from Midnight Society, the game studio he co-founded in 2021. For nearly three years, Beahm was the face of Midnight Society and its debut game, Deadrop, a “vertical extraction shooter.”
Calling Beahm the “face” of Deadrop is an understatement; it was more than just his game—it was the Dr Disrespect game. The shooter’s art style mirrored Beahm’s dark cyberpunk stream graphics and merchandise. Deadrop’s core extraction mode was inspired by his passion for Escape From Tarkov. Even the Deadrop assault rifle has two firing modes, “Yaya” and “Yayayaya,” a nod to the disgraced streamer’s catchphrase.
In the week following Beahm’s firing, Midnight Society has been working to erase any trace of Dr Disrespect from its official channels. Beahm is no longer mentioned in the studio’s Twitter bio, and its About Us page has been taken offline. Only a few mentions of the streamer remain in its FAQ and branding guidelines. Midnight Society may never fully disentangle itself from its co-founder, but even if it could, I seriously question what Deadrop is without its main source of hype. Because one thing is clear about Deadrop right now: it is neither a good nor particularly promising game.
Day zero
Deadrop is not your typical video game. The Midnight Society founding team—Beahm, Robert Bowling (former Call of Duty creative lead), Quinn DelHoyo (former Halo Infinite designer), and entrepreneur Sumit Gupta—pride themselves on presenting Deadrop as a groundbreaking project that “turns tables upside down” in the game industry. Central to this mission is their “Day Zero” development approach, where early adopters vote on features and provide feedback.
Months before Deadrop had a name or anyone knew what kind of game it would be, Midnight Society began selling $50 Founders Passes. These NFTs granted owners unique, procedurally generated Midnight Society avatars that could be used in-game.
The studio’s embrace of NFTs and decentralization, as trendy as it was in 2021, alienated PC gamers already frustrated with Web3 startups touting the future of gaming as a stock market. This decision instantly linked Deadrop with the shallow, cynical, and scam-prone Web3 gaming space. However, these criticisms were minor compared to the overwhelming support from Beahm’s fans. All 10,000 Founder Passes sold out quickly after their release. For $50, buyers received a digital trinket they could sell later, but the real prize was access to future Deadrop test builds, called “Snapshots,” another of Midnight Society’s self-proclaimed development innovations.
Deadrop is essentially an early access game with even earlier access, promising a new playable Snapshot every six weeks. I was among the skeptics who doubted how Midnight Society could release a new build of Deadrop every 42 days when starting from scratch. What could a studio accomplish at that pace?
It didn’t take long for Midnight Society to reveal why developers typically wait years before letting players see their games. The much-hyped Snapshot 1, released in July 2022, featured just three rooms, firing ranges, and a single gun. Midnight Society called it an experience, but it was more of a tech demo. It wasn’t until Snapshot 2 in September, which missed its six-week deadline by two weeks, that Deadrop introduced the basics of its multiplayer extraction mode, a map, and a few more weapons. After the first few snapshots, Midnight Society began selling non-NFT access to the game for $25. That’s the version I bought.
Deadrop is a state of mind
From a development standpoint, each snapshot served as a playable proof of concept. However, with placeholder assets, buggy animations, and generally poor performance, it was evident that Deadrop was still years away from becoming a game people would enjoy playing.
That’s not the impression you’d get from watching content creators play Deadrop, most of whom are proud Founders Pass holders. To its earliest adopters, everything about Deadrop is impressive: its stiff movement, limited weapon variety, weak gun sounds, barebones animations, graybox maps, and nonexistent progression systems.
What I find fascinating about Deadrop is that Midnight Society has cultivated a group of followers who firmly believe Deadrop will be a massive hit and aren’t particularly critical of its current state.
It’s a unique form of influence that influencers wield over their audiences—the same enchantment that turned Logan Paul’s energy drink Prime, which tastes like expired Gatorade, into a bestseller—convincing legions of fans that something lacking in objective merit is truly significant. If Midnight Society hadn’t been linked to a prominent streamer and had released Deadrop in its current state on Steam’s early access, it likely would have garnered a ‘Mostly Negative’ rating and been dismissed as ordinary store filler.
Part of the allure of Deadrop lies in its effective theatrics. Midnight Society has cultivated a culture of exclusivity with its use of unique terms like “Day Zero Community,” “VES,” and “The Existence.” Early adopters aren’t just players; they’re “Variants,” while other community members are referred to as “Claws.”
Throughout 2022 and 2023, Midnight Society staged elaborate live events in Los Angeles, Arlington, and Las Vegas to celebrate Snapshot releases. It’s surreal to see Beahm, Bowling, and DelHoyo discuss standard FPS features like an (still incomplete) map, gun skins, and voice chat with the grandiosity of a Call of Duty reveal. It’s even stranger to witness a live audience cheering enthusiastically at flashy trailers showcasing textureless maps and glitchy gunfights. The unwarranted hype surrounding Deadrop momentarily makes you question whether we live in a world where games can be celebrated as the next big thing without being remotely polished.
However, after playing Deadrop and observing its community over the years, it’s evident that all the glamour and enthusiasm haven’t translated into sustained interest in Deadrop’s current state. Despite being in its pre-alpha phase, Deadrop remains available for purchase at $15—a purchase I wouldn’t recommend, considering the lack of active player engagement.
Deadrop in 2024
In early 2024, just months after its grand Snapshot 7 reveal event in Las Vegas, Midnight Society quietly announced via its blog that 2024 would be a subdued year for Deadrop.
“We are stepping away from the spotlight, which means we will be reducing major releases (like Snapshots) and focusing on the substantial work needed to complete Deadrop,” the update stated.
This finish line entails another “early access” release, distinct from the current offering, intended for consoles and PC. It was a somewhat awkward read, given Midnight Society’s earlier pledge to involve the community with frequent six-week Snapshots. However, most fans seemed to understand that this shift was necessary for actually finishing the game. The update did assure ongoing “public releases” throughout 2024, but in the six months since, none have materialized. After initially touting a groundbreaking Day Zero strategy to redefine the industry, today’s Midnight Society operates more like any conventional game studio.
Meanwhile, Deadrop remains in a state of stasis. The current version available for sale is still Snapshot 7, released in October 2023, and despite my efforts over the past week, I haven’t been able to join a match. The best I’ve managed is loading into an empty map and testing out some of the guns. Deadrop’s firearms are perhaps its strongest aspect, though that isn’t saying much—they’re generic, sound poor, and cause framerate drops when fired, but at least they’re responsive.
As I roamed through one of Deadrop’s towering maps and envisioned what it would be like with a dozen more players in the lobby, I started to question the purpose of Deadrop’s signature verticality. Skyboxes filled with massive structures can create visually stunning environments, but from what I’ve experienced, being a “vertical extraction shooter” essentially translates to “Tarkov with a lot of elevators.” The primary objective of the extraction mode is to ascend to the top of the tower, but without a jetpack or flying vehicle, players are left to ascend through conventional means. Personally, I find constantly climbing stairs, watching ladder animations, or waiting for elevators tedious and uninspired. Other shooters likely avoid such extreme verticality not because it’s too innovative, but to ensure navigation isn’t a chore.
Deadrop after Doc
In recent days, I’ve given up trying to play Deadrop, and it seems many fans have too. It’s been a somber period lurking in the Midnight Society Discord. Members closely followed the Dr Disrespect controversy as it unfolded, with some immediately attempting to defend Beahm’s actions and others questioning their support for Midnight Society if he remained involved.
Tensions in the chat escalated when Beahm was ousted on June 24. Almost instantly, numerous founders sold off their Deadrop NFTs on Open Sea for half of their previous value. Messages flooded in, adorned with Founders avatars, expressing disbelief and disappointment over Midnight Society’s decision to “betray” its founder.
“I stand with Doc. Y’all are lame if you cut ties with someone before even seeing proof,” wrote BrokenJibz.
Others took a more measured approach.
“I would like to believe he didn’t know her age, but I think he would have mentioned that upfront if he didn’t,” wrote WeaponX.
A week after his departure, Beahm continues to dominate conversations on the server, though the mood is shifting toward closing this chapter of Midnight Society and refocusing on the game. Weekly Discord playdates are set to resume soon, offering some players the chance to engage with the game intermittently. But the question remains: What does Deadrop look like without Dr Disrespect to promote it?
It’s an extraction shooter with a verticality gimmick, initially tied to NFTs but now distancing itself from them, and an early access title still in a very rough state. Midnight Society made the right call in parting ways with Beahm, but in doing so, they’ve also shed the veneer of artificial importance they once relied on. Now, whatever Midnight Society has been working on throughout 2024 becomes even more critical for the studio than it was just a week ago. As a paying customer, I’m not expecting miracles, but Deadrop does possess a few intriguing concepts I hope to see fully realized—particularly its Halo-inspired custom game modes and map editor.
With Dr Disrespect now a thing of the past, Midnight Society faces its true test: if Deadrop truly has the potential to be a blockbuster, it must prove itself independently.