Threads
- Fntastic is shutting down after The Day Before completely failed.
- The studio’s game is no longer being sold on Steam.
- Valve appears to be issuing refunds, and Fntastic’s CEO has deleted his Twitter profile.
- The studio’s YouTube channel has also removed every single video of this game.
The Day Before was accused of being a scam months before its release. Following a troubled marketing cycle that seemingly borrowed from other AAA games, this MMO launched without most of the promised gameplay mechanics.
This resulted in poor reviews, with thousands of players leaving the game days after release. In the aftermath, developer Fntastic announced that it would be closing down, abandoning this supposed live service title in the process.
While the game was still being sold on Steam at the time of this announcement, Valve has gone ahead and halted sales, preventing new users from buying The Day Before.
Why it matters: The original announcement did not say much about refunds, leaving many concerned after they had considered giving this broken project a chance.
As seen above, the game’s official page is still on Steam. However, Steam is no longer letting users purchase this early access title.
Even more interesting is the fact that all semblance of The Day Before’s marketing has been nuked from Fntastic’s official YouTube channel. Heading to the channel shows no content despite numerous videos existing not too long ago.
The studio’s CEO has also deleted his Twitter/X profile. All of this points toward earlier suspicions where many claimed that this MMO was nothing but an elaborate scam from an unknown developer.
A report suggests that at least 200K people had purchased the game before it was removed. If accurate, Fntastic likely made much more than the amount spent on developing this half-hearted project.
Still, it remains unclear whether the studio benefitted from these purchases. Since the game had a surprisingly short lifespan, Valve may be considering its options, possibly investigating the studio’s actions before a payout.
Fortunately, users are reporting that Valve is issuing refunds. While it typically offers refunds when games are played for a few hours, Steam appears to be making an exception for this case.
How many people bought & refunded The Day Before? According to a (leaked?) Telegram message from Fntastic's CEO Eduard Gotovtsev, it's had 201,000 buyers and 91,700 refunders – a 46% refund rate! pic.twitter.com/eeL669pRzi
— Simon Carless (@simoncarless) December 11, 2023
We expect to learn more information on the matter as the story develops.
The Day Before highlights yet again that the practice of pre-orders and hype culture can harm games. In an era where selling a game on promises has become popular, the industry should be vigilant about false advertising.
The Day Before is expected to go down as a massive scam in the coming years. It proves that certain things are too good to be true, especially in an industry where studios have become too used to overpromising.
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[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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