After years of saying the gaming industry needs a new multiplayer game to rival the likes of Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, and others, Dr Disrespect is taking a historic step that shows he’s still at the tippy top of the streaming mountain.
It’s been a whirlwind two years for Doc since receiving his Streamer of the Year 2019 trophy at the Esports Awards. Out of nowhere, he was banned on Twitch and was forced to find a new home on YouTube. Over a year later, we still don’t have any answers on that front.
But that hasn’t stopped him from continuing his industry-leading production value on his new platform, and it certainly hasn’t put a halt to him playing the biggest games in the world. In the last few months, he’s dabbled with everything from Valorant to Apex Legends, trying to find one that sticks – but also one that resonates with his community.
While the ongoing Warzone hacker problem, and lack of anti-chat, has pushed other big personalities like NICKMERCS, CouRage, and TimTheTatman towards other titles, Dr Disrespect has a much bigger plan. His character has grown in popularity, standing out from other popular streamers as the only fictional alter-ego of himself on screen, almost like a WWE superstar. But that’s not enough.
Next, he wants to take over.
Dr Disrespect game studio
On August 10, the existence of his very own game studio was confirmed with a job listing. In what’s been described as a “life-changing opportunity” to become the Co-Founder and Studio Head of a AA/AAA gaming studio, it looks like Dr Disrespect is diving back into game development on a much grander scale.
Anyone familiar with his work, especially before his meteoric rise on Twitch, will know that he previously worked as a Level Designer on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and has a huge passion for it.
As a streamer, he took it one step further by issuing a challenge to Rogue Company’s dev team, who eventually let him make his own map. Obviously, he called it The Arena.
Now, these top streamers can use their platform in a variety of ways. Ninja has become a mainstream icon since his Fortnite successes – appearing in TV shows, launching an Adidas merchandise collaboration – and then stepped back from daily broadcasts to pursue other passions. Valkyrae has had a similar rise, but has steered more towards trending music – appearing in Corpse Husband’s DAYWALKER! video.
Those are all massive achievements and show how far streamers have come, changing the perception of video gamers and empowering other creators to believe the sky is the limit. To some degree, Doc has racked up similar accolades, whether it be writing his own book or developing his own TV show.
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Ambition
When it comes to Dr Disrespect’s latest venture, though, people have to realize that this is a totally different ball game.
Not only does it show how far his fictional on-screen character has come over the years, but it’s a representation of the ambition of the man behind the wig, Guy Beahm. He’s always said he wants to build a game that’s better than anything out there, and now it appears he has the resources to do it.
The studio he’s building will be focusing on the development of games published on Epic Games, Steam, and console platforms. The studio is also asking for a Gaming Studio Head that has demonstrable experience leading development of games with a player base of over 100,000 people.
If he pulls this off, which will likely be a very long, drawn-out process, there are not many influencers in the world with the sort of reach he has. Hundreds of thousands of Champions Club members and fans dive into the Arena to see him play games every single week, and that same community alone would give any project a massive headstart on the competition – if it’s good.
While he might not be everybody’s cup of tea – bringing violence, speed, and momentum to each and every stream – one thing is certain… This is one of the most ambitious and courageous steps any major streamer has ever taken. The risks are stacked high, with possible viral embarrassment if it goes wrong. But the rewards could be multi-million (he would say billion) dollar partnerships, international recognition, and critically acclaimed success in the first-person shooter space.
The first streamer to develop a AAA game? If anyone can pull it off, it’s the Two-Time. Trailblazer.
