On paper, when it was announced in 2021, The Day Before had everything to seduce. Fntastic promised a MMO of survival in a post-apocalyptic world, at the meeting between The Last of Us And The Division. An ambitious title for a young studio founded in 2015, but many players believed in it. And there were also many who called it a scam.
Just before the launch, Fntastic had nevertheless published a press release intended to be reassuring, but without going into too much detail about the game itself. The Day Before was released on December 7, 2023 in Early Access on Steam And the reviews were disastrous, with “extremely negative” evaluations. The developer had simply communicated on the state of the servers, without noting the numerous criticisms from players, The Day Before not being a MMO of survival but a extraction shooter in restricted environments.
A huge disappointment, the title was nevertheless in the most added to wish lists on Steam, but many players who tried the adventure claimed that they received a refund. Today, Fntastic publishes a first real press release after the launch of The Day Before to announce… its closure. Yes, the development studio gives up, it is in financial crisis and cannot continue operations. Here is the press release:
Today we announce the closure of the Fntastic studio. Unfortunately, The Day Before failed financially and we lacked the funds to continue. All income received is used to repay debts to our partners.
We invested all our efforts, resources and man-hours into the development of The Day Before, which was our first big game. We really wanted to release new patches to reveal the full potential of the game, but unfortunately we didn’t the funds necessary to continue the work.
It’s important to note that we did not take any money from the public during the development of The Day Before; there were no pre-orders or crowdfunding campaigns. We worked tirelessly for five years, pouring our blood, sweat and tears into the game.
At this time, the future of The Day Before and Propnight is unknown, but the servers will remain operational.
We apologize if we did not meet your expectations. We did everything in our power, but unfortunately we miscalculated our capabilities. Creating games is an incredibly difficult business.
We are grateful to everyone who supported us during these difficult years. It has been a fantastic journey over the past eight years:
2015: Opening of the studio
2017: Release of The Wild Eight
2018: Release of Dead Dozen
2018: Release of Radiant One
2021: Release of Propnight
2023: Release of The Day Before
FNTASTIC
Players are already pointing out that Fntastic is not talking about reimbursing the players who bought their title, we will have to fight with Steam or abandon the case (and its €38.99). The studio denies any scam, it simply embarked on a highly ambitious project without having the means.
It seems obvious that the servers of The Day Before aren’t going to stay online for long, players can also say goodbye to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. And even with operational servers, the title will remain as is, far from the announced promise (and full of bugs). A real shipwreck which risks scarring the players for many years. For a real multiplayer experience, you can find The Division 2 from €7.62 on Amazon, Cdiscount, there Fnac And Gamesplanet.
| Clint008 Editor – Tester |
