Video Games

The Day Before devs Fntastic shut down after disastrous launch

Nobody likes The Day Before

Josh Broadwell

The Day Before devs Fntastic shut down after disastrous launch
The Day Before devs Fntastic shut down after disastrous launch /

The Day Before development studio Fntastic announced its closing down for good, following the FPS game’s messy launch on Steam. The news comes after a contentious lead-up to release, tasteless in-game jokes, attempts to have volunteers make the game, and accusations of stolen assets.

“Today, we announce the closure of Fntastic studio,” the team said in an announcement on Twitter. “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. We really wanted to release new patches and reveal the true potential of the game, but unfortunately, we don’t have the funding to continue the work.”

“At the moment, the future of Propnight and The Day Before is uncertain, but the servers will remain operational.”

Fans and content creators met the news with anger and mistrust, even accusing the studio of taking people’s money for a “scam” game and running.

"The game has failed financially? And you say that 4 days after release?" one Twitter user wrote. "At least wait a whole month instead of just lying.“

"Refund everyone who bought it too,” another said. “You sold a long-term GAAS and you're shutting it down after less than a week.”

Fntastic originally sold The Day Before as an MMO game, but changed it to an extraction shooter right before launch, which, understandably, angered prospective buyers. Then when it did launch, the team faced accusations of using assets stolen from other games. 

Stolen or not, The Day Before had plenty of problems with its assets, physics, and basically everything else when it did launch. One scene that made the rounds on Twitter showed a large object floated into the air after a bullet touched it – not something you want happening in your game that’s full of bullets.

Those launch issues are in addition to multiple delays, failures to secure necessary trademarks, fans convinced The Day Before wasn't real, and backlash after asking for unpaid volunteers to help program the game.

The Day Before is Fntastic’s first substantial project, and the team said they just didn’t anticipate how challenging the endeavor would be.

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Josh Broadwell
JOSH BROADWELL

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or Rolling Stone shouting about RPGs. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or leveling yet another job in FFXIV.

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