The Day Before, developer Fntastic’s ill-fated survival game which has fallen under intense scrutiny and controversy since its release has a message for players frustrated with the game’s end result: “Shit happens.”
The Day Before launched Early Access on Steam last week, and came under fire for seemingly pulling a bait-and-switch between what appeared to be a zombie survival MMO in marketing materials but ended up releasing as a buggy, empty extraction shooter, as Kotaku US writer Ethan Gach put it. Since then, Fntastic, the studio behind the game, has ceased operations, and The Day Before has been removed from Steam amidst mostly negative reviews from disappointed players.
In a post shared to X (formerly Twitter) by the Fntastic official account, the studio said they were “currently working with Steam to allow refunds for any player who chooses to request one, regardless of game time.” They added that Fntastic “received $0 and will receive nothing from The Day Before sales.”
One frustrated user responded in this thread, calling the studio a “disgrace” to the video game industry for the level of hype the devs put behind The Day Before versus what was actually released. It’s here where Fntastic seems to have stopped apologising for their errors in the development and marketing of their game.
“This was our first big experience. Shit happens,” their reply reads. “We worked honestly for 5 years and passed all the publisher’s milestones. We’ve always aimed to deliver the best product, but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned,” another tweet from the devs said.
The Day Before has been a hot topic of discussion online with many alleging the game was scamming players, plagiarised trailers, and mislead people on what exactly the title would be when it launched. With the studio now closing its doors due to lacking the funds to continue after The Day Before “failed financially,” the future of the game and the studio’s other titles is unknown, but for now the servers will remain operational for players who haven’t refunded it and wish to play.
The Day Before seems to be well and truly dead in the water, only mere months after becoming a top-wishlisted title and garnering large streaming audiences and player numbers on launch day. But, as Fntastic say: Shit happens.
Lead Image Credit: Fntastic
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