The creators of the critically failed survival game The Day Before made a comeback at the end of September 2024 and vowed to be transparent and honest in the future. However, there are already accusations against their new game on Steam.
What game is it about? Escape Factory is supposed to be the new game from the makers of the notorious survival flop The Day Before. On X, formerly Twitter, the developers signaled a new era for their studio: “Fntastic 2.0” is supposed to be honest, transparent, and professional.
At the same time, the developers announced their new game and started a campaign on Kickstarter to finance it. However, players smelled a scam, similar to The Day Before – and it seems they are right.
This was the story with The Day Before:
Allegedly Honest New Game a Cheap Asset Flip
What is wrong with the game? Users on social media have identified Escape Factory as what is known as an asset flip. These are games that are assembled from pre-made assets without showing any significant original contribution.
The Steam player Occular Malice listed all the assets from Escape Factory that he could find in a forum post. For example, the networking, the lobby, and the matchmaking are cited as examples of “Unity Demo Code,” which can be used to learn about developing multiplayer games.
Many other assets from the game are also said to come from the Unity Store, many of which are available for free.
Fntastic reacted to the revelation by apparently having posts deleted from the Steam forum. However, a backup of Occular Malice’s post is still accessible via the WaybackMachine.
There were also talks of an asset flip with the critically failed The Day Before. Meanwhile, on X, the developers assure that all assets have been legally acquired. They also emphasize that they created the artwork and music for Escape Factory themselves.
In general, it is not uncommon for smaller developers to rely on pre-made asset packs, especially when they have a good idea but lack the corresponding artistic talent. Even the developer of the Steam hit Vampire Survivors originally used such packs but later had them revised by an artist.
However, when finished assets are carelessly cobbled together just to make quick money, it is referred to as an asset flip. Just recently, action was taken against a developer on Steam who made money with such games and a lousy scheme: Valve deletes 248 games from a single studio on Steam, and there is a good reason for that
