Dr. Disrespect launches 'AAA game studio' with Call of Duty and Halo veterans

Dr. Disrespect
(Image credit: Midnight Society)

Guy Beahm, the mustachioed streamer better known as Dr. Disrespect, has teamed up with former Call of Duty creative strategist Robert Bowling and Halo 5 multiplayer designer Quinn Delhoyo to launch a new game studio called Midnight Society, aimed at creating "the best, most community-focused online PVP multiplayer experience the world has ever seen."

Things appear to be fairly early on in the process, and they released no specifics about whatever the studio is working on. But as you might expect from a project headed up by Dr. Disrespect, there's plenty of hyperbole on tap: Midnight Society is "a killer team of veteran AAA talent that lives, breaths, and sleeps in the realm of PVP multiplayer," that's "turning tables upside down" in the game industry with a "new kind of game studio and publishing model over a decade in the making."

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Filtering out the breathlessness, Midnight Society will lean heavily on early access, with a particular emphasis on high-profile influencers: The studio announcement says one of its priorities is "including communities and influencers much earlier in the development process" than usual. And while Beahm's participation might seem like the game development version of stunt casting, don't forget that before he found fame as the mustache that roars, he was a community manager and designer at Sledgehammer Games, with credits on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Advanced Warfare.

"As a long-time player, streamer, and former game developer myself, I’ve often dreamed of creating awesome titles that entire communities can get behind from day one," Beahm said. "My vision is to make games that defy the one-and-done publishing model and reward all those fans and influencers who make them a success."

For now, the studio is focused primarily on hiring: The careers page lists openings for a community manager, designers, engineers, artists, and more—all of which can work remote, which is nice. And it's definitely aiming high. Midnight Society describes itself as a "AAA game studio," and many of the job listings require at least five years of experience in big-budget game development. If you're not quite at that stage in your professional development but would like to follow along with Dr. Disrespect's new studio anyway, you can do so on Twitter or Discord.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.