The Day Before Devs Close Up Shop Because the Game Flopped Hard
Fntastic has declared bankruptcy, claiming it doesn't have the funds to continue operations because The Day Before is a flop.
The Day Before have declared bankruptcy. Fntastic ends its life, although it's not yet a week since the game was made available on Steam as part of early access.
As the announcement posted by the developer on social media reads, The Day Before has failed financially and, as a result, the studio does not have the funds to continue operating, including releasing updates (via X / Twitter).
The developers have seen fit to emphasize that they "did not take any money from customers during the development of The Day Before", as there was neither a community campaign nor pre-orders. The game's servers (and Propnight) will remain open for the time being, but their future is uncertain.
The Day Before Confirmed ... as a hoax?Source: Fntastic / X/Twitter.
Long road to failure
I don't think anyone can say they were surprised by the developers' announcement. In truth, a bigger surprise for gamers was the release of The Day Before in the first place, because until December 7 many people did not believe that the game even existed. Mainly because the developers advertised their first major game in a rather unique manner (not to put it more bluntly).
Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the project did not disappear even after this de facto unexpected debut. The title was released in disastrous technical condition, Suffice it to say that out of more than 19 thousand reviews on Steam, only 20% are positive.. This is not only because there are a lot of bugs (which partly justifies the early access), and the optimization and operation of the servers leave much to be desired.
Just as plagiarism was pointed out to the developers on the occasion of materials promoting the game, so immediately after the release of The Day Before there were accusations of asset flip. In other words, accusations of basing the game almost entirely on commercially available ready-made resources, prepared by other creators (via Reddit). This wouldn't be a problem if the developers hadn't claimed that they had worked on the game themselves by the sweat of their brow for five years (via X / Twitter).
Clowns and retractions
Of course, the situation did not improve after the studio disbanded. On the contrary, players found plenty of reasons to complain. For example, such as the fact that all discussions on Steam were deleted (except for comments on the announcements), but the game itself for some reason remains available for purchase.
The mood of the "fans" is also evidenced by The Day Before subforum on Reddit. And we're not just talking about the threads. The moderators replaced the subreddit's "emblem" and graphics with a much-talked-about image, which, by the way, we chose as the main graphic for this text. Allegedly, they too felt cheated by Fntastic (via Reddit).
Of course, players are not only interested in criticizing on the developers. Discussions have also quickly begun on the possibility of getting a refund for the purchase of The Day Before. Admittedly, even before the announcement, about 50% of players were said to have already done so (via Reddit), but not everyone managed to do so before clocking in two hours of gameplay (let me remind that Steam automatically grants refunds for a game unless you spent more time in it).
Even before the studio officially shut down, there were threads on the game's subforum with tips on how to increase the chances of getting your money back. Basically, they boil down to reporting to Steam support and pointing out the "fraud" of the developers. The latter can be proven by, among other things, attaching two links: terms and conditions of Early Access of Steam and an article published by Forbesm regarding the false advertising of The Day Before. This does not guarantee a return, but it gives you a better chance than being confrontational about the thing (via threads on Reddit).
It should be noted that Fntastic has clearly violated Steam's Early Access regulations. Indeed, it reads, "Early Access is not a way for the community to fund the development of your product." Meanwhile, the developers justify the end of development (and the studio as a whole) with poor sales of The Day Before.
At the same time, the efforts of these buyers are cynically commented on by some Internet users. who write that The Day Before from the beginning was an obvious scam and an attempt to extort money.
