Issues Statement Denouncing ‘Misinformation’ Issued the Day Before
The Day Before developer Fntastic has refuted claims of vaporware, affirming to followers that the controversial zombie MMO is still in the works. This statement comes weeks after the Singapore-based studio made public their decision to delay the release of The Day Before, citing unique trademark issues.
The developer recently revealed that the attempt to secure a trademark for The Day Before had been met with some obstacles, according to regulatory documents which showed that another party from South Korea had already filed for the same trademark half a year prior. Because the IP holder had still filed for the trademark months after the game was announced, some people thought that the studio was not taking the project seriously, especially since it had been mentioned that The Day Before was relying on volunteer labor, which had raised some doubts about the possibility of the game becoming vaporware.
Fntastic recently tweeted that the allegations against The Day Before were disinformation, while also implying that the current public skepticism was hurting the development team. They promised to provide resources to inexperienced developers once the game is completed, as well as to offer more transparent updates due to the lack of a marketing department. A company representative said that “all our resources go to game development.”
Before it was taken off Steam due to trademark infringement, The Day Before was the second-most wished-for game. Several fans were still intrigued by the game notwithstanding its prior issues. Whether they still feel the same is an unanswered question, with current online opinions leaning toward both extremes.
Fntastic had not given out pre-orders for The Day Before, making any claims of deceptive marketing baseless. Still, some cynics have taken to the web to hypothesize that the developer might have utilized the game’s fame on Steam to secure confidential investments. Such a strategy is quite common in the field, yet the problem with this project is that the developer had been teasing its survival MMO for nearly two years before displaying actual The Day Before gameplay footage in early February.
Given the varying opinions regarding the recent gameplay reveal and the multiple delays the game has experienced, Fntastic will certainly have a challenging time promoting The Day Before when it is released. This is particularly true if the studio continues to refuse to hire a marketing team.
The Day Before will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10.