A new game development studio called Midnight Society has been announced. The new studio is co-founded by Robert Bowling, Herschel ‘Guy’ Beahm, and Quinn DelHoyo. It has Ryan Thompson listed as a gameplay engineer, Eric Hallquist as a concept artist, and HB Duran under marketing and PR. It also lists Sumit Gupta as another co-founder and CEO.
Robert Bowling worked as both community manager and later creative strategist of Infinity Ward from 2006 until 2012. He founded development studio Robotoki later in 2012, which ran until 2015.
Quinn DelHoyo is a developer who has worked in the industry since 2010. He has worked on franchises including Gears of War and Halo.
Herschel ‘Guy’ Beahm worked in the industry previously as the community manager of Sledgehammer Games. He moved from that position to work as a level designer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. In 2015 he left the industry to become a full time streamer under the pseudonym Dr. Disrespect.
Dr. Disrespect became famous for streaming a variety of different Battle Royale games. He has been vocal in the past that he has a number of ideas for how to make a better Battle Royale game.
That fame grew alongside a number of intertwined controversies. In 2018 Dr. Disrespect was called out by actor and musician Jimmy Wong for ongoing use of racial stereotypes. The pattern of behavior came about from streaming games like H1Z1 and Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, both popular in China. Dr. Disrespect defended his ‘hybrid language’ by arguing he had Mexican and Asian friends, and that his wife is Filipino. He then fired back at Wong, claiming Wong was desperate for attention. By 2019 Dr. Disrespect removed it from his streaming personality.
The focus of Midnight Society is aimed squarely at development alongside the players. It wants to utilize a ‘Day-Zero Community’ involved in every stage of development. Its first title is slated to be an online, PVP focused multiplayer shooter.
Updated at 10:30 p.m. Pacific: Added the paragraph about Dr. Disrespect’s use of racist humor.