The Day Before Taken Off Steam 4 Days After Launch, Studio Shuts Down

The Day Before has had quite the journey. Just four days after the game’s early access release on December 11, 2023, developer Fntastic has announced that the studio is shutting down and the game has been taken off Steam as well.

The Day Before Removed from Steam, Studio Closes Down

The reviews are in and the game has officially bombed. Players have criticized just how bad the game is with the lack of melee combat, empty city, bad AI, and various glitches, bugs, and performance issues. Apart from that, the servers have been unstable causing disconnection issues and long wait times. All this, at a hefty $39 price tag, left many feeling cheated and disappointed. It has 20K+ reviews with an overall Overwhelmingly Negative rating and is one of the worst-reviewed games on Steam.

@CultureCrave on Twitter has posted what their official Discord looks like after the announcement:

What their official discord looks like right now pic.twitter.com/RGR7J6viaT

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) December 11, 2023

When it was first announced, The Day Before became the most wish-listed game on the platform. After that, a number of issues like delays, trademark disputes, hiring of unpaid labour, and accusations of false advertisement came up.

The game was originally scheduled for release in June 2022 but then delayed to November 2023 because they moved from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. While it was intended to improve the game’s visuals, graphics, and performance, this also led to discussions related to the capabilities of the devs. Before this, they released Propnight in 2021 which received Mixed reviews.

That’s not all – there was a copyright claim-related issue as well. In January 2023, the Steam page for “The Day Before” was delisted due to a dispute with a calendar app called “TheDayBefore.” The page was eventually restored but this did affect the game’s reputation before release.

https://twitter.com/playdaybefore/status/1719764076321182158

A community note on their launch-related tweet reads:

“The game was falsely advertised for years as an MMO survival game and is an extraction shooter. The game’s Steam page, as linked in the original post, clearly states this. Read reviews before purchasing this game.”

The Community note on their launch tweet pic.twitter.com/z8lqkMEH2S

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) December 11, 2023

CEO of Fntastic deletes his Twitter account

Source: Twitter

Adding to the overall chaos, the CEO of its publisher Fntastic (@eduardgotovtsev) has deleted his Twitter account.

Fastest Drop of Player Count Ever?

4 days ago, The Day Before had a player count of 38,104 (7th December) and as of 12th December, the player count has dropped to a whopping 700 players as per SteamDB.

Source: SteamDB

Here’s what the investors of The Day Before have to say:

https://twitter.com/mytona_official/status/1734359076690362582

Fntastic Studio Announces Closure

And the official statement from Fntastic which mentions that the game has failed financially and that they lack the funds to continue.

Official statement. #fntastic #thedaybefore #propnight pic.twitter.com/AKcRHeIaIW

— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) December 11, 2023

As of December 12, 2023, the Early Access note on Steam says:

Source: Steam

[bs-quote quote=”Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development.” style=”default” align=”center” color=”” author_name=”” author_job=”” author_avatar=”” author_link=””][/bs-quote]

While it’s possible another studio could take over development, the chances remain slim. The current state of the game, coupled with the negative reception and the developer’s closure, paints a bleak picture for The Day Before. It serves as a cautionary tale for the gaming industry, highlighting the importance of transparency, realistic expectations, and delivering a polished experience.