Fntastic, the developer behind the controversial and much-derided postapocalyptic shooterThe Day Before, announced it is shutting down just four days after the game’s launch.
“Today, we announce the closure of Fntastic Studio. Unfortunately,The Day Beforehas failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners,” a message posted toFntastic’s X accountandwebsitestates. “We invested all our efforts, resources, and man-hours into the development ofThe Day Before, which was our first huge game. We really wanted to release new patches to reveal the full potential of the game, but unfortunately, we don’t have the funding to continue to work.”
The Day Beforegained notice earlier this year with glitzy trailers and its temporary status as the most wish-listed game onSteam. Controversy followed, as Fntastic reportedly was using someunpaid volunteersto make the game, put out underwhelming new gameplay footage, and struggled toobtain the rightsto the nameThe Day Before. Aftermultiple delays, the game finally came out on December 7, peaking at 38,104 concurrent players,according to SteamDB.The reaction to the game has largely been negative, as it’s clear that Fntastic overpromised and underdelivered .
https://twitter.com/FntasticHQ/status/1734265789237338453
The Day Beforecurrently sits at a “mostly negative” user score averageon Steamwith over 18,500 reviews. Some have alleged thatThe Day Beforewaspotentially scamminginterested players. In reponse to that, Fntastic’s message states the studio “didn’t take any money from the public during the development ofThe Day Before; there were no pre-orders or crowdfunding campaigns.”
As for what’s next,The Day Beforeremains available for purchase on Steam, and Fntastic says that “servers will remain in operation” for it and the studio’s other game,Propnight, for now. It seems to havedeleted its account on Mediumand changed the status of all videos on itsYouTube channelto private, though.
