As The Day Before shut down within days of its official launch, we took a look at the factors that led to the premature demise of this postapocalyptic zombie shooter
The Day Before was shaping out to be one of the most anticipated games in 2023, riding on the wave of an incredible reveal trailer that shot it to the top of Steam wishlists. Yet, a mere four days after it entered early access, the developers abruptly pulled the plug on the project and promised refunds to disappointed pre-order customers. Why did The Day Before shut down all of a sudden? What went so terribly wrong? In the aftermath of the game’s untimely end, these are the answers we tried to uncover.
Why the Day Before Shut Down?
The Day Before was announced two years back, with the developers promising a 2022 release. Gamers got excited seeing the game’s first teaser, saying it had vibes of The Last of Us and Tom Clancy’s The Division. There were skeptics, of course, questioning Fntastic’s capacity to deliver a game of such high caliber, given their primary reputation for smaller indie games. The doubts started to rise when the studio pushed back the release date a few times.
Fntastic also ran into a legal dispute over the game’s title, which led to a temporary delisting from Steam. The game’s now-defunct website also raised some eyebrows, describing a “workplace culture that relies on the philosophy of volunteering.” The statement implied that the studio was not even paying developers who were working on the game.
After so many red flags and obstacles, the game finally did appear, and it turned out to be a complete disaster. The game introduced players to a cityscape similar to The Division, yet there were no more than four or five zombie encounters per hour of gameplay. No post-apocalyptic open-world MMO survival elements were in the game as originally promised; it was more of a postapocalyptic shooter, as we mentioned earlier. In a nutshell: Fntastic did not deliver the game they sold.
The day before is a hot mess pic.twitter.com/gI5JnHd4NO
— NikTek (@NikTekOfficial) December 8, 2023
The reviews were unsurprisingly brutal following the release, and the player numbers took a nosedive. Following severe backlash, Fntastic dropped a bombshell earlier today! It announced that the game is shutting down because the studio doesn’t have the financial means to produce a patch that would stabilize the shambolic mess it is right now. The developers have also pulled the game from Steam and have promised to refund those who bought it early on. The studio has also taken down its website and YouTube account.
Official statement. #fntastic #thedaybefore #propnight pic.twitter.com/AKcRHeIaIW
— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) December 11, 2023
Was The Day Before A Scam All Along?
Credit: Fntastic
The Day Before has been called out as a scam by many angry gamers. Even though Fntastic has informed IGN that it is actively collaborating with Steam to provide refunds to those who purchased early access to the game for $40, we can’t help but take that information with a pinch of salt.
In the officially released statement, which we linked above, Fntastic says all income generated by the game has been used to pay off debts. Fntastic claims no crowdfunding was involved in the project, but it sold more than 200,000 copies of a game it falsely advertised. Considering the negative player reactions, it seems highly likely that most players would request a refund for the early access fee they paid to Fntastic. How can the studio pay back gamers if it has already used the money to settle debts? As things stand, it’s not easy to view The Day Before as anything but a potential scam.
The Day Before has set a terrible precedence that will make life difficult for ambitious indie studios that want to rise to AAA status. A newcomer studio with sincere intentions of crafting the next big video game may encounter unwarranted hurdles due to The Day Before’s catastrophic failure.