Fntastic, the studio behind the recently released dumpster fire of a survival MMO extraction shooter The Day Before has closed down just four days after the game’s Early Access launch. Wild.
In a statement posted to social media and found on its now-defunct website, Fntastic says, “The Day Before failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue.” Furthermore, the statement says, “All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners.” The studio apologises for what happened saying “We apologize if we didn’t meet your expectations. We did everything in our power, but unfortunately, we miscalculated our capabilities,” but given what has unfolded it’s hard to take it seriously. For those crazy few who want to keep playing The Day Before and its other game Propnight, the servers will remain operational, however the future of both games is unknown.
Official statement. #fntastic #thedaybefore #propnight pic.twitter.com/AKcRHeIaIW
— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) December 11, 2023
It closes the door on one of the craziest development stories in recent times, perhaps ever, with the game launching on Friday, December 8, as the most Wishlisted game on Steam, before being slammed by everyone who got their hands on it. While most people understood that those early trailers were nothing more than tech demos, The Day Before launched as an entirely different game from what was promised. There were no MMO survival elements, the world was small and not open, basic features like melee and voice chat were not present, and the lack of zombies – in a zombie game – was hilarious, and those that were there were pointless. Those who had bought the game were rightly pissed off, with many obtaining refunds after Steam’s two-hour threshold. Steam it seems, has had enough, with the shopfront disabling the game’s purchase option from its store page.
I was one of the ones who was hopeful that The Day Before could provide some fun in a genre I’d be keen to jump back into, although I was well aware that the game’s quality was not going to be very high. But what I did manage to play was vapid, empty and downright insulting to those who had shelled out real money (I was lucky enough to receive a key). It’s hard to imagine anyone spending five years to make this garbage, given most of it was made with purchased assets. Over those five years, the game was delayed multiple times due to trademark issues, an engine swap and other bizarre reasons.
But it doesn’t end there. In the days before launch, Fntastic had scrubbed its YouTube channel of all videos that advertised the game as an MMO survival game and has now nuked its channel entirely. The game’s Discord, or what remains of it, is a chaotic mess with all moderators cutting ties with the game. Fntastic’s co-founder Eduard Gotovtsev has vaporised all of his social media accounts, as well as his infamous Medium post where he spruiked the company’s approach to volunteering.
There is some form of silver lining, with Mytona, The Day Before’s publisher putting out a statement saying that it is working with Steam to provide refunds to everyone who wishes to get their money back, which honestly should be everyone.
https://twitter.com/mytona_official/status/1734359076690362582
Did you give The Day Before a chance? Have you gotten a refund yet? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Despite a childhood playing survival horrors, point and clicks and beat ’em ups, these days Zach tries to convince people that Homefront: The Revolution is a good game while pining for a sequel to The Order: 1886 and a live-action Treasure Planet film. Carlton, Burnley FC & SJ Sharks fan. Get around him on Twitter @tightinthejorts