Mere days after the messy early entry launch of The Days Before, the studio behind the undertaking, Fntastic, has introduced it is closing down.
Fntastic introduced the information by way of a post on X (previously Twitter), stating The Day Before, beforehand one in all Steam’s most-wishlisted video games, “has failed financially, and we lack the funds to proceed.” The Day Before did briefly rise to the highest of Steam’s best-sellers and most-played video games checklist, earlier than dropping off dramatically as damaging consumer critiques for the sport poured in.
“We invested all our efforts, sources, and man-hours into the event of The Day Before, which was our first big recreation. We actually wished to launch new patches to disclose the complete potential of the sport, however sadly, we do not have the funding to proceed the work.”
The Day Before’s launch was broadly criticized for game-crashing bugs and server points. Fntastic has additionally been accused of deceptive gamers about what sort of recreation The Day Before truly was, with many commenting on how the sport was an extraction shooter versus the open-world survival MMO that had been promised. These accusations and the sport’s numerous technical points led to it shortly incomes a “Mostly Negative” consumer assessment rating on Steam. Out of greater than 18,000 consumer critiques, solely 20% are presently optimistic.
Fntastic did launch one hotfix update for The Day Before on December 8 following the sport’s launch, fixing numerous efficiency points and addressing vital bugs. It appears like that could be the final replace the sport will ever obtain, with the way forward for one in all Fntastic’s earlier video games, Propnight, additionally in query.
“In the mean time, the way forward for The Day Before and Propnight is unknown, however the servers will stay operational,” Fntastic’s assertion reads.
Fntastic in a Steam early entry Q&A said the plan was for The Day Before to stay in early entry for “six to eight months,” with plans so as to add extra content material and finally enhance the sport’s worth. As of writing, The Day Before remains to be on sale by way of Steam for $40, and no bulletins relating to the sport’s future have been posted on its official Steam web page. [Update: The Day Before is no longer available for sale on Steam, though it’s unclear if that is Fntastic’s doing or Valve’s.]
On X, customers are accusing Fntastic of scamming gamers and demanding refunds.
“Rip-off, ya’ll taking the cash you made and are working out of your rip-off, you false marketed The Day Before for years, and put out a recreation nothing like what you marketed,” Synth Potato writes on X. “Everyone knows you are not shutting down since you lack funds, however since you’re taking the cash and working.”
Previous to launch, Fntastic got here below scrutiny for its use of unpaid “volunteer” employees. The Day Before’s launch had been delayed a number of instances over time, first as a result of studio shifting the undertaking to Unreal Engine 5, and extra not too long ago as a result of a trademark dispute with a calendar app of the identical identify.
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