In a shocking turn of events, Russian game developer Fntastic announced this week that they are shutting down operations just days after the launch of their much-hyped zombie survival game The Day Before.
Fntastic cited financial failure as the reason for the closure. According to the release, The Day Before did not generate enough sales revenue to keep the fledgling studio afloat. This is despite over a year of intense hype and anticipation built up around the project, including it being one of the most wish-listed titles on Steam after the first trailer dropped.
The Day Before was slated to be an MMO-style zombie shooter set in a post-pandemic America. Trailers showed impressive graphics and tense, Last of Us-style action sequences that got fans excited. However, controversy plagued the road to launch, with accusations that early footage was faked and that Fntastic relied too heavily on volunteer work.
Even with all of these controversies, many fans kept the faith and eagerly awaited the Early Access launch on Steam last week. But lacklustre reviews and criticism of missing features and unpolished gameplay quickly tanked user scores. Refund requests flooded in, delivering the final blow to already precarious finances. For reference, the game currently sits at a Mostly Negative rating on Steam, with 18524 reviews at the time of writing.
It’s a disappointing end for a studio that clearly had lofty ambitions. In their closure statement, Fntastic apologized for not living up to expectations, saying, “We did everything within our power, but unfortunately, we miscalculated our capabilities.”
For now, The Day Before’s servers remain online. But with a skeleton crew and limited resources, it’s unlikely the game will see any more meaningful development or the full launch initially promised.
While disappointing to many, this is another tale of a studio overpromising and underdelivering in the games industry. The Day Before joins titles like No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 that failed to match unreasonable hype at launch.
