The Day Before was once the most desired game on Steam, but the launch in Early Access turned out to be a disaster. Just a few days later, the studio behind the survival flop announced its closure. Now they are back.
Note: This article was created in a breaking manner and has been updated multiple times.
Background: The Day Before was discussed in 2021 as a great hope for survival gaming. However, the closer the release got, the more doubts piled up about whether the game could deliver on its promises. At the launch in Early Access, the title was far from what was seen in the impressive trailers.
Just a few days later, the creators took action and closed the studio. An insider report shows how The Day Before could generate such a huge hype and then flop so badly.
The Day Before: A major fraud or just tragic incompetence? Géraldine Hohmann discussed this in the GameStar Talk with a lawyer.
Developers are back and want money
What do the developers say? In a post on X, Fntastic, the developers behind the survival flop The Day Before, return a three-quarters of a year after their closure. In it, they apologize, but also explain that everyone deserves a second chance.
There is also a link where the plans for “Fntastic 2.0” are supposed to be hiding. The developers want to make amends for their past mistakes and “come back better”. To achieve this, they are asking the community for financial support.
Any traces of The Day Before have been erased from the X account. In the comments under their post, the developers explain that they no longer have rights to the game or to their other title, Propnight. You can see the post here:
What does the plan look like? In a multi-page PDF, the developers outline their “restoration concept”. “Fntastic 2.0” is based on 3 important principles:
- Honesty: They want to build trust in the community and communicate challenges honestly, not sugarcoat anything.
- Transparency: There will be regular development updates in the future, and they want to actively engage with the community and offer free betas before a release.
- Professionalism: New experts will be brought on board to improve the skills of existing employees, and standards will be continuously raised to become a company that deserves trust and admiration.
For 2024 to 2025, they aim to strengthen community engagement, rebuild the Fntastic brand, and overall improve everything. The developers also have a new project in the works, which they plan to finance through Kickstarter.
In this regard, they state (via X): “You once helped us create Fntastic through Kickstarter. Now we need your help again to bring Fntastic back!” And: “We are motivated to create more games if the Kickstarter is successful.” (via X)
What is this new game going to be? “Escape Factory” is supposed to be a kind of party game for 4-8 players who must escape from a factory, according to the first images. There is already a Steam page where the game is tagged as “3D Platformer” and “Puzzle Platformer”. A free demo is also available for download there.
As of the current state (September 27, 2024, 09:55 AM), the developers’ campaign on Kickstarter has 13 supporters, who have contributed a total of 342 euros towards the stated goal of 13,937 euros.
Whether Fntastic can win back its community remains to be seen. However, the initial reactions on X are rather negative. Many users sense a scam and politely urge the developers to withdraw completely from the gaming industry.
