Three months after being fired by Midnight Society over an exchange of “inappropriate” messages with a minor, Guy Beahm, the streamer better known as Dr Disrespect, has stated that it’s still his studio and predicts he’ll return to it sooner or later.
It struck me as kind of odd that when Beahm returned to streaming earlier this month, links to Midnight Society remained in his X and Instagram profiles. I thought at first it was an oversight, a bit of housecleaning left undone, but as the days and weeks passed, the links remained.
Now we know why: Because Beahm isn’t going away quietly. He made that clear about his streaming career when he returned to action on YouTube with a 20-minute rant against his Twitch ban and claims that it was driven by a conspiracy against him. It turns out he has similar thoughts about his role at Midnight Society.
“That’s the Two Time’s studio,” Beahm said in a recent stream (via Dexerto), using his preferred self-reference as a two-time NBA Jam tournament champion. “That’s the Two Time’s game. That’s my vision for a game. Eric [presumably concept artist Eric Hallquist] and I, we concepted out the original concept years ago. You guys remember that. We talked about it, we created the studio with a few other individuals, we grew the team.
“Yeah, it’s still in my bio, and I just got a feeling, just give it a little bit more time, we’ll be right back in it. We’ll be right back in it, champs, just give it some time. Not a problem.”
It’s a bold statement, but not entirely without basis. Deadrop has been popularly known as “Dr Disrespect’s game” since the very beginning, and he was the very high-profile public face of the game and the studio making it until his June dismissal. Questions about Midnight Society’s prospects without Beahm as its chief cheerleader followed almost immediately in the wake of that split, and major layoffs that occurred just a few months later didn’t make the situation look any sunnier.
It’s not likely those cuts were driven by Beahm’s termination—the past two years have seen a virtual decimation of the videogame industry as the heady days of the Covid-19 quarantine gave way to an entirely predictable return to reality that game company executives were somehow unable to predict—but his removal sparked a vocal backlash from early supporters and players who were in it primarily, or entirely, because of Beahm’s involvement.
For now, work on Deadrop continues: Midnight Society recently shared a new gameplay trailer showcasing the state of the game, as well as a Q&A thread touching on a range of topics including specific gameplay elements, rewards, and future plans.
DEADROP Gameplay Trailer – @12am @DEADROP Showing off the current progress on DEADROP for their community! Check it out below! #MidnightSociety #DEADROP pic.twitter.com/aPxtdG0Kb9September 20, 2024
I’ve reached out to Midnight Society for comment on Beahm’s prediction of a return and will update if I receive a reply.