Published on: 16/03/2022

Dr Disrespect’s gaming studio sells first entry title NFTs, ahead of game’s uncertainty

Dr Disrespect founded a video game studio called Midnight Studio in December last year and shortly after the Studio plans to launch its first entry title.

The Studio emphasized its vision to be “the most community-focused, online PVP multiplayer experience the world has ever seen”, however with fewer details revealed of the game yet, the Studio has already released the game’s early access plans called “Founders Pass” and it appears to be NFTs.

Gaming industry veteran Robert Bowling, one of Midnight Studio’s co-founders. in a statement wanted to invite the Studio’s dedicated Discord members to purchase the early access plans which include access to early game builds, voting rights, VisorCortex design, exclusive drops and more.

“We call this exclusive echelon of Claws, the Variants. Variants are active participants in the development of the games and receive early access to the game before it’s fully playable, and the ability to join development decision-making processes – among many other perks,” Bowling in the statement.

Bonus, exclusives, more

To join as one of the early access members, the Founders Pass cost $50, as per Eurogamer deputy editor Tom Phillips. The benefits appear to focus mostly on the community aspect of the game, such as the VisorCortex NFTs and additional benefits pass holders will receive can be sold as well as traded to other people.

“As we focus on building the best new PVP multiplayer first-person shooter, we’re looking to leverage the collective strength of our Day Zero community to go hands-on during crucial early development milestones of the project,” Bowling explained.

“This means building an infrastructure that allows the active participants of our community to experience environments, weapons, movement, and other core tenets of the gameplay at a stage where their feedback, input, and guidance can be incorporated.”

However, the Studio plans to limit the first series access or Founders Access to 10,000 community members and these members will be referred to as the “Variant”. The Variants not only be given access to the game development ahead of release but also access the decision-making process with voting rights.

“In order to facilitate that, we’re releasing a series of Access Passes which grant the holders exclusive access to the early builds of the game, private Discord channels, and the ability to not only play but vote on key design decisions that will shape the future development of the game in both micro (reload speeds, recoil balancing, time-to-kill tweaks) and macro (maps, modes, meta) ways,” Bowling added.

Moreover, pass holders will be able to mint and trade VisorCortex, a unique and procedurally generated custom visor design with different rarities.

Unhappy fans, potential limited game release

Some fans have expressed their concerns and are unhappy with the studio’s decision. YouTuber Geeky Pastimes who have been creating content surrounding the studio added that NFTs in the game would potentially divide the community.

While the game has yet to announce let alone provide information on its technical development, the game could potentially not be released on popular software distribution platform Steam as it contains NFTs and Steam are not fond of NFTs.

When asked about the environmental impact of the game’s NFTs, Midnight Studio explained they are using infrastructure (Polygon) which has little damage to the environment. Although the Studio does not provide comments on its use of Ethereum.

Dr Disrespect or Herschel “Guy” Beahm IV, alongside two gaming industry veterans Bowling and Quinn Delhoyo, co-founded Midnight Studio last year. The trio has been very optimistic about the studio’s future and has been trying to release its first-ever unannounced entry title.