When Ubisoft first showed The Division, everyone was blown away by this concept of a multiplayer online survival game that would take us through the deserted streets of New York oozed that eerie atmosphere without the masses of people that are usually seen on its streets. Yet, the showcase was mesmerizing thanks to the unique attraction of the Big Apple wrapped in Christmas cheer.
The hype persisted all the way until launch when the game showed just how grossly Ubisoft overpromised and underdelivered, leaving a stain on the company’s reputation for years to come. So what would happen if a company overpromised and never delivered? It looks like Fntastic may give us an answer.
The Day Before dazzled audiences in similar fashion to The Division in its own first outing – charming but ominous atmosphere, beautiful visual presentation and an oddly similar third-person camera. Gamers immediately drew parallels between the two and not just the good ones. Suspicion about the promise and delivery started to set in.
Over the course of the two years since the showcase, more and more red flags started cropping up and they came to a head on 25 January, 2023, when Fntastic announced an eight-month delay for the release date, moving it from March to November of the same year.
The apparent reason is that someone claimed the trademark on the name “The Day Before” even though it was available back in 2021 when the game was announced. This is an extremely peculiar reason, even for a group of developers that never dipped their toes in game making waters.
Fntastic has, in fact, dipped before and the track record is not that good. Whenever a game would show signs of plateauing or fan dissatisfaction, they abandoned it and almost immediately announced a new one. Force Gaming did a deep dive on these practices and found a string of games that endured such behavior but more importantly, all of these games were much smaller in scope, which posed the question of how and why would Fntastic think they are ready for an undertaking with the size of The Day Before. Hundreds of volunteer developers maybe?
Other findings in the video showed just how scripted each “gameplay” sequence was and while Force Gaming didn’t accuse Fntastic of not having a game on their hands, the thought has crossed the mind of people in the scene. Ironically, it was Fntastic’s own promotional video that is nudging people into doubting their product.
Life at Fntastic video premiered on 3 January 2023, with many eyes on it thanks to the team promising it was a big reveal for The Day Before.
It turned out to be 5-minute long sales pitch for Continent, the studio’s chat and meeting app.
Besides the product placement, Fntastic also showed some of the unpaid volunteer team members as well as free hardware from partners like Nvidia and Lenovo. You have to see the irony and discrepancies in such a line of thought. A bigger line of thought discrepancy is that the studio behind a series of unsuccessful small-scale video games is attempting something as ambitious as The Day Before without committing its full focus to the project.
So, does The Day Before exist as video game and will it every be released? Less probable things have happened in the past but there is no guarantee of any kind that it will. Even if it does live to see a release, chances of The Day Before being a good game are slim to none.
It is in development by a studio that is known for the lack of commitment to its titles, has now shown lack of focus and is jumping into the biggest project yet, all at the same time.
I am sorry to spring a list of bad omens on you but if you are looking for a good multiplayer zombie survival game in the near future, it doesn’t look like The Day Before will fill that void.
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