Midnight Society, the studio co-founded by disgraced YouTuber Dr. Disrespect, has announced "significant" layoffs in response to what it calls "multiple unexpected challenges in recent months".
Speaking to PC Gamer, a Midnight Society rep said that in order to "adapt to these changes and secure the future of Midnight Society", as well as its debut title Deadrop, a "significant workforce reduction" was necessary. The rep doesn't confirm exactly how many people have been laid off.
According to Deadrop content creator and Midnight Society Founder (that's Founder with a capital F; it's a confusing bit of jargon on the studio's part) Jok5rr, "roughly 50%" of Midnight Society's dev team was hit by the cuts. That's a very significant reduction indeed.
The Midnight Society rep told PC Gamer that despite the layoffs and "challenges" the studio is facing, Midnight Society remains "dedicated to launching Deadrop in 2025".
While Midnight Society doesn't explicitly name the challenges it's talking about, it's pretty much certain that at least one of them relates to the downfall of Dr. Disrespect, who was fired from the studio in June following allegations of sexting a minor.
As PC Gamer points out, Deadrop is pretty closely linked to Dr. Disrespect, real name Guy Beahm; it adopts his 80s-inspired cyberpunk-style aesthetic, and some of the game's in-game text references Beahm's catchphrases.
Midnight Society co-founder Robert Bowling says that he and the studio will be sharing their "revised plans and milestones" soon, so we'll get to see how these layoffs have impacted the development of Deadrop before long.
Midnight Society's layoffs come against the backdrop of a wider wave that has seen major companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Take-Two swept up in it, as well as many smaller studios.
Of course, the Deadrop developer's case is a somewhat special one given the controversy surrounding Beahm and the allegations against him, but nevertheless, these layoffs are part of a wider pattern. Stay tuned for more on this.
