In 2023, we have seen several amazing titles released right from the beginning of the year, and a few forgettable titles as well. Among the games that failed to make an impact, none of them have failed as badly as The Day Before. It never took off, as early access proved just how badly the game was made, and was review bombed by gamers and critics immediately upon release.
Apart from all the unfortunate refund requests, the developers have now officially revealed the date when the game will go offline for good. As predicted, the servers are being shut down, since the studio is officially closing next month.
The Day Before Servers Will Go Offline Next Month
Developers of The Day Before released a statement earlier today officially confirming that they are ceasing operations, resulting in the game being retired. The servers for the game are being turned off on the 22nd of January next year. The post also mentioned that the investors, Mytona, are working with Steam to “proactively refund” everyone who purchased the game.
The Devs mentioned the lack of a development team as a reason behind the unfortunate closure of the project. The post concluded by thanking the support from the gaming community throughout the project’s development.
This did not come as a surprise to many, however, as it was all quite expected after the game’s massive failure. The Day Before launched on the 7th of this month, and received a flood of negative reviews from a majority of gamers and streamers.
From the gameplay shared by several gamers on YouTube, the game looked rather empty with a meagre number of zombies that show up once at a time. The shooting experience was not just frustrating, but also had a severely delayed response.
The open-world appeared quite good visually, but still looked like it was months away from the finished project. During the early access release the servers filled lobbies, but the actual gameplay was showing up empty, with barely any players on the map.
A well-known YouTuber, RadBrad, who has been known to provide complete gameplay of major titles on his channel, posted just one video of The Day Before, and shared his feedback. Brad mentioned this was the first time he had ever applied for a refund on a game.
There were more than 23,000 Steam reviews that ranged from sarcastic puns, to downright frustration by gamers, many of whom called the entire project a big scam. The responses to Fntastic’s post on X also echoed the same.
Fan Reactions to Fntastic’s Official Statement
Most of the responses to Fntastic’s official statement on X called the game out for being a scam. One of the fans mentioned how the studio should have seen this coming, given how horrendous the marketing for the title has been in the past few years. Another user pointed out earlier reports of the founder’s influence, which was said to be the major reason for the game being spoiled.
Another user tried to put the scam narratives to bed by mentioning how it’s not one, as the refunds are going out to everyone who purchased the game. It was also mentioned that the studio failed to deliver on promises, but if everyone’s paid back, there’s no reason to be mad. There was also a reply about the studio’s surprising move of retiring the title rather than taking the time to fix it instead.
The responses to Mytona’s post about the refunds last week were met with several users saying how the idea was good, but the execution lacked a lot of things. Users mentioned how a change of Dev team could be the way to revive the game. With the closure now and the confirmation of the game being retired, any hope of the game’s revival also ends.
The Day Before could end up being the perfect example to show other studios that taking time is a lot better than releasing an unfinished game.
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