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Fans Seek Refunds After Midnight Society’s Closure
Following the recent closure of the Midnight Society gaming studio, disgruntled fans of the discontinued shooter game Deadrop have started claiming refunds for early access passes through their banks and credit card providers.
Players have mobilized in game studio Midnight Society’s abandoned Discord server to spread information on how to successfully chargeback their purchases.
The Rise and Fall of Deadrop
Deadrop was the vertical extraction shooter developed by Midnight Society, co-founded by controversial streamer Dr. Disrespect—who was later kicked out of the company due to allegations of inappropriate conversations with minors.
The game spent almost two years in early access, after the studio initially sold Founders Access Pass NFTs on Ethereum scaling network Polygon. Following that initial sale, the studio later sold $25 Tower Key passes (which weren’t NFTs), and eventually Drivers Keys for $20-30 apiece, which would unlock future in-game items of varying rarities.
Unfulfilled Promises and Discontent
Once Midnight Society shut down at the end of January 2025, much of what users thought they’d spent money on was no longer going to be delivered.
For example, the Tower Key purchase promised a free battle pass available upon the launch of the game’s first official season, which is no longer going to happen, leading some buyers wanting a partial refund. And those that bought a Drivers Key claim to have never received the in-game items at all.
Community Reactions
Pseudonymous gaming content creator JustAverageJay, simply known as Jay, shared receipts with Decrypt showing that he spent $449.80 on Deadrop Drivers Keys throughout October 2023, because he wanted to eventually flex the items in-game alongside his son, who also played Deadrop.
On top of this, Midnight Society pledged that legendary items, obtained through the Drivers Keys purchases, would later be tradable on its marketplace. As such, Jay said he piled up on them, anticipating that they’d be heavily sought after in the future—akin to what is happening with early access skins on the pre-mainnet black market for Off the Grid.
“What we paid for was never in the game. We never had access,” Jay told Decrypt. “So, they scammed us—took our money for products [that they] never had to give us because the game was never released.”
Jay isn’t alone in this, with a group of players gathering in the Midnight Society Discord to discuss how they can get a refund. Former Discord moderator, the pseudonymous Caramel, has taken the mantle and claims to have assisted 11 people so far in securing refunds.
Chargeback Efforts
Caramel shared receipts of three bank reversals from Midnight Society totaling nearly $390 for Drivers Keys. He says that there are “many many more” in the works to get refunds.
“I don’t want the community that I helped build over the last 4 years to be out [of] hundreds, if not thousands of dollars,” Caramel said.
Impact of Dr. Disrespect’s Departure
After popular streamer Dr. Disrespect, aka Guy Beahm, was dismissed from the game studio, players were unsure where the game would go—or if it could succeed without him.
Midnight Society co-founder and creative director Quinn DelHoyo told Decrypt in August 2024 that the game’s development hadn’t “skipped a beat,” and claimed that the “fully featured game” would release in fall 2025.
Final Collapse
Just over three months after terminating its relationship with Beahm, Midnight Society confirmed last September that “significant” layoffs took place. But a leaner team wasn’t enough to save the studio, with Midnight Society officially shutting down four months later, leading to Deadrop being discontinued.
Ongoing Refund Struggles
One player that asked to remain anonymous provided Decrypt with correspondence from American Express approving a $25 chargeback for a Tower Key, because Midnight Society did not respond to the bank’s queries on the case.
Jay, on the other hand, is struggling with his refund due to paying via a local credit union rather than a big, established bank. However, after contacting his credit union again and explaining that others had secured refunds, his claim is now under review.
“I’m very hopeful I’ll get my money back, but realize it’s a long shot—so I’m not holding my breath,” he told Decrypt. “I’m self-employed, so it’s a huge deal if I can get that money back. It would give me a little more breathing room financially.”
Lingering Frustration
While Jay and others cross their fingers for a refund, users in the Discord continue to criticize Midnight Society and its founders. Chargebacks aside, users are outraged that the studio’s website says that its community events are still occurring every week, that merch is still buyable, and that the game’s NFTs are still tradable on OpenSea.
One wallet bought 13 Founders Passes on Monday, perhaps hoping for a second life for the now-shuttered game.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor’s note: This article was updated after publication to remove comments from a former Midnight Society Discord moderator.