Boy, we hope that you’re not holding your breath for The Day Before because what was once Steam’s most-anticipated title is a hot mess of development delays, copyright bans, and somewhat empty promises.
The post-apocalyptic survival MMO was recently delayed all the way into November; Studio Fntastic first claimed a trademark dispute had taken it off Steam, then later backtracked and said it was already planning to delay the game (ostensibly because it wasn’t finished and needed to be “even more polished, optimized, and content-filled”). This conflict with the maker of a calendar app with reportedly the same name also resulted in gameplay clips being yanked from Steam and YouTube due to copyright strikes.
When media outlets did get to see the gameplay footage prior to its removal, it was roundly criticized for being “quite boring” and “generic.” The videos, posted on February 2nd, were taken down on both platforms by the 12th — a decision that’s clearly irked the developer.
In response to the troubled development and legal issues, Studio Fntastic said that “every day the game gets better” and promised to win the legal battle. “We’ll fight,” it said in a Twitter post. “Power is in the truth.”
Last week, the studio posted another message denouncing “disinformation” that’s had a “mental impact” on the dev team. It also indicated that it has a video showing the full development process of the game that it may share at some point.
One fan wasn’t having it, replying, “Please stop.” The studio response? “We’re just getting started.”
#thedaybefore pic.twitter.com/2q98hE1i9f
— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) February 12, 2023
