Esports illustrated

Dr Disrespect Frustrated by Off The Grid's Positive Reception

Trent Murray

Off The Grid/YouTube

Off The Grid burst onto the gaming scene last week, sponsoring some of the biggest names in streaming from Ninja to Timthetatman to Ludwig Ahgren. Despite Web3 elements that have historically turned off most gamers, the game appears to have been generally well-received with one notable exception.

On October 14, 2024, Dr Disrespect took to X/Twitter to express frustration at a perceived hypocrisy he saw in the discourse surrounding the new extraction shooter from Gunzilla Games.

"All these people that talked s--- about the idea of us creating a studio and a AAA game on the blockchain… are now praising the same idea with Off The Grid."

- Dr Disrespect

Dr. Disrespect helped found Midnight Society, a game studio currently developing the Web3 shooter Deadrop. The gaming audience at large has historically pushed back on blockchain-based games, or game studios incorporating elements of cryptocurrency and NFTs. Midnight Society received similar skepticism upon its announcement. The studio has since cut ties with Dr Disrespect following his admission to messaging a minor.

However, the Doc is pointing out the seeming lack of such critique surrounding both the sponsorships streamers have taken for Off The Grid as well as the game itself. Ludwig Ahgren is of particular note in this regard. The streamer has largely cut ties with Web3 companies, ending the long-running Coinbase sponsorship on his podcast The Yard. Many of his fans were surprised to see Ludwig take a Web3 game sponsorship.

What Is Off The Grid

Off The Grid is an extraction shooter that launched into Early Access on October 8th. It is available on PC through the Epic Games store and is planned for Xbox and PlayStation. According to the game's website it features an optional NFT element but is playable without engaging in this blockchain-based element. Currently the NFT component, reportedly a cryptocurrency-based marketplace in the style of Counter-Strike's secondary skin market, has not been implemented.

Overall, while gamers are skeptical that Off The Grid will retain an audience once the sponsorship money dries up, much of the online discourse has focused more on the gameplay than on its Web3 elements.

One notable difference between the reception to Midnight Society's debut and that of Off The Grid is of course Dr Disrespect himself. The content creator was a controversial figure long before his most recent cancellation. Off The Grid also flew largely under the radar for most gamers until it launched its recent early access campaign alongside a slew of sponsorships for some of the biggest names in streaming.

Dr Disrespect was notably left out of this pool of content creator cash. When he streamed the game on his own time, he was also noticeably surprised to see a skin collaboration with Ninja featured prominently in the client.

Time will tell if Off The Grid's strategy will lead to mass adoption or if gamers will ultimately sour on it as they have with most Web3 projects in the space. To date, the game has amassed over 2 million hours watched in its first week according to SullyGnome. At time of writing, it is ranked as the 7th most-played free-to-play game on the Epic Games store.

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Trent Murray
TRENT MURRAY

Trent has covered esports since the birth of the LCS. He also led content strategy and served as Senior Writer for The Esports Observer and Sports Business Journal, and worked on the development team for Rushdown Revolt.

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