The Day Beforedeveloper Fntastic has dismissed vaporware allegations as “disinformation,” assuring fans that the controversial zombie MMO is still coming out. Its comments arrive weeks after the Singapore-based studioannounced yet anotherThe Day Beforedelay, justifying it with an unusual trademark story.
The developer last said it hit some roadblocks while trying to secure the trademark forThe Day Before, with regulatory filings revealing that another party from South Korea beat it to the punch by over half a year. Since the current IP holder still filed for the trademark months after the game was announced, some fans took Fntastic’s carefree approach to legal legwork as a sign that the studio is not running a serious project. Doubly so given earlier reports thatThe Day Beforeis using volunteer labor, which already prompted some claims that the game will turn out to be vaporware.
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Fntastic has dismissed those allegations as “disinformation” in a recent tweet, while also suggesting that the current public skepticism surroundThe Day Beforeis having a “mental impact” on its development staff. The studio vowed to dedicate resources to “help novice developers deal with fakes” once they wrap up their work on the game. Responding to some fan reactions to its original tweet, Fntastic also promised more transparent development updates moving forward, attributing its historically sparse communications the fact that it doesn’t have a marketing department. “All our resources go to game development,” a company representative wrote.
SinceThe Day Beforewas Steam’s second-most wishlisted gameprior to getting delisted due to the aforementioned case of trademark infringement, it’s clear that many fans remained interested in the game in spite of its previous controversies. Whether that’s still the case remains to be seen, with online opinions about the project being fairly polarizing as of right now.
Fntastic never offered pre-orders forThe Day Before, meaning any claims of false advertising are entirely groundless. However, some skeptics have recently taken online to speculate that the developer might have used the game’s popularity on Steam to secure private investments. That, in itself, is a fairly standard industry practice, but the issue with this project is that the developer had been teasing its survival MMO for nearly two years prior to showingactualThe Day Beforegameplay footagein early February.
Between mixed reactions to that recent gameplay reveal and the fact that the game already suffered numerous delays, it’s safe to say that marketingThe Day Beforeon release will be an uphill battle for Fntastic. Especially if the studio remains adamant not to hire an actual marketing department in the meantime.
The Day Beforeis scheduled to hit PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10.
