You might have believed that the saga of The Day Before concluded last year when developer Fntastic, facing accusations of misleading marketing and overwhelmingly negative Steam reviews, withdrew the game from sale and abruptly closed its doors merely four days into its early access launch.
However, the studio has reappeared with a detailed statement, attributing the entire situation to a “hate campaign” orchestrated by “certain bloggers.”
The motive behind the anonymous voice from Fntastic’s social media account resurfacing and defending the seemingly defunct studio is not entirely clear.
Nevertheless, the recently published tweet offers a lengthy ten-paragraph rebuttal, addressing what it perceives as “a lot of misinformation on the internet from supposedly anonymous sources.”
The Day Before, once Steam’s most wish-listed game, finally entered Steam early access last December after facing repeated delays and accusations of being a scam.
Almost immediately, it faced criticism for deviating significantly from the open-world zombie MMO promised in its impressive 2021 reveal trailer. As Steam reviews quickly turned overwhelmingly negative, Fntastic announced the studio’s closure just four days later, citing financial failure.
Refunds were issued, and The Day Before’s servers officially went offline on January 22nd. However, Fntastic is not ready to conclude the narrative there.
In its latest social media post, the studio addresses accusations of deceiving players, investors, and former employees, as well as disputes claims of disparities between the game’s trailers and the released product.
The statement argues that all features shown in the trailers were implemented, with only minor features like parkour disabled due to bugs, and the intention is to include them in the full release.
Fntastic contends that the “negative bias instilled by certain bloggers making money on hate” influenced perceptions of the game and led to the studio’s closure, asserting that the quality of The Day Before’s release was not the determining factor.
The post also mentions post-sales communication from individuals expressing disappointment in bloggers and expressing a liking for the game, with petitions urging continued development and reports of the game’s price exceeding $200 on the black market.
Despite the apparent closure in December, Fntastic implies that the developer is not finished, expressing gratitude for supportive emails and encouraging followers to stay updated on social networks for future developments.
