YouTuber and “Call of Duty” streamer Dr Disrespect launched his game development studio Midnight Society back in December, and the brand is now releasing 10,000 “Founders Access” NFTs for early community members.
Dr Disrespect’s NFT announcement comes shortly after the creator tweeted that he has resolved his legal dispute with Twitch and is “moving on” after being indefinitely banned from the live-streaming platform in the summer of 2020. He did not say whether he remains banned.
NFTs are the unique tokens that exist on a blockchain like Ethereum and prove the holder’s ownership over a digital or physical asset. In gaming, NFTs can indicate ownership of in-game assets, like cosmetic skins for weapons or characters.
Dr Disrespect’s gaming NFTs, which will exist on the Polygon blockchain, will cost $50 each. Per Midnight Society’s website, Founders Passes won’t give gamers any pay-to-win perks, but holders will get early access to game builds, a profile picture usable within Midnight Society games, studio events access, and voting rights on game features.
Midnight Society co-founder Robert Bowling comes from Infinity Ward, the maker of “Call of Duty,” and sees NFTs as an important part of Midnight’s gaming ecosystem.
“We're utilizing blockchain for the Access Passes specifically because we envision these being a cross-platform membership that will cover not just our first game (codename: Project Moon) but also any games we publish in the future (whether developed by us or not),” Bowling told Decrypt via Twitter DM.
“This technology allowed us to build something that can be leveraged by us but not need to be controlled by us, and instead can be grown and expanded on by the community,” he added.
While Midnight Society’s Founders Passes may provide holders with unique avatars, collectors won’t be able to commercialize their NFTs like others have with their Bored Apes, and now, their CryptoPunks. After the initial minting or primary sale, Founders Pass holders will only be able to buy and sell them on secondary NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible.
Dr Disrespect’s NFTs have already received some backlash on Twitter from gamers, even though the project’s marketing avoids calling the Founders Passes NFTs. (The Midnight Society web site does say that the Access Passes use "environment-friendly NFT technology.") It’s hardly the first gaming brand to get sniping from gamers when it announced NFTs: Ubisoft, "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2" developers, and "Worms" developers were met with similar responses when they did NFTs.