‘The Day Before’ shuts down four days after launching
In a surprising twist, ‘The Day Before’ faced an untimely demise just four days after launching on Steam. Fntastic’s announcement of the closure has generated a notably negative response from the gaming community. What exactly is unfolding?
“The Day Before” – Before launch
Overall, The Day Before is an MMO survival shooter with a zombie theme developed by Fntastic. The game was unveiled in 2021, initially scheduled for release in 2022. With an impressive debut trailer in 2021, the game quickly garnered attention from the gaming community. The Day Before was even compared to titles such as The Last of Us and Tom Clancy’s The Division. However, numerous issues arose afterward, leading to continuous delays in the release date. Among these issues, copyright-related concerns played a significant role. It seems that these problems were just the beginning.
“The Day Before” – Disastrous launch
It wasn’t until December 7th that The Day Before was officially released. The game immediately attracted over 30,000 concurrent players. Prior to its launch, the game had garnered around 200,000 purchases on Steam after early access rights were sold for $40.
After players had firsthand experience, a cascade of negative opinions and low ratings ensued. Many gamers expressed that The Day Before did not live up to the initial advertising, essentially being just another ordinary shooter. Throughout the gameplay experience, the game also encountered numerous server issues, causing frustration among players. With nearly 90% negative reviews, The Day Before quickly found itself among the top 10 most negatively reviewed games on Steam to date.
“The game doesn’t live up to the hype, with plenty of miscommunicated and unrealized promises. This is bad overall and a huge red flag; developers need to address this.” – Shared by a gamer. In addition, many agree that, “The game clearly isn’t an MMO, unless you count Tarkov as an MMO.”
Did players set their expectations too high, or did the developers make promises beyond their capabilities? This is still nothing compared to the peak of disappointment when Fntastic announced permanent closure on December 11th.
‘The Day Before’ shuts down four days after launching
Just four days after its debut, Fntastic made the abrupt decision to shut down “The Day Before ” due to financial reasons. The company announced that the revenue generated from the launch days would be allocated to settling debts with the partners and suppliers who had supported the game’s development. In an official statement from Fntastic, they declared: “Today we announce the closure of Fntastic studio. Unfortunately, The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners”
‘The Day Before’ shuts down four days after launching
Specifically, all content related to “The Day Before” on Fntastic’s YouTube channel has been removed. Shortly thereafter, the final farewell message from the former management has also taken down. Furthermore, Fntastic studio has disclaimed responsibility by asserting that they did not receive any money from the game’s sales on Steam. Naturally, this has heightened the frustration and disappointment within the gaming community.
In a recent announcement, Fntastic stated that they will refund every case that has purchased the game, regardless of whether they have played over 2 hours (according to Steam’s policy) or not. Additionally, their servers will continue to operate as usual. Currently, The Day Before has been removed from Steam.
Following the incident, a sense of disappointment has pervaded among many players. Some go as far as to accuse Fntastic Studio of deceiving users. To date, The Day Before has garnered a multitude of negative reviews across various social media platforms.
In summary, Fntastic’s abrupt decision to close The Day Before merely four days after its launch has sent shockwaves through both the gaming industry and the gaming community. What are your thoughts on this matter?
