The Day Before – Developer studio closes a few days after disastrous release

For many, The Day Before was the hope for a new chapter in the survival sector, but what happened on December 7, 2023 after many years of waiting was something many had feared but never expected.
In the first few hours, the game was barely playable, the servers were full, the performance was devastating – and the content of the “best survival experience of the year” also left a lot to be desired.

In short, the Early Access release of the game was disastrous – and this now has consequences for the developer studio Fntastic, as the developers have probably run out of funds.

Just four days after release, Fntastic has shut down<7h2>
As the developers announced on X (formerly Twitter), the development studio will be closed with immediate effect:

Today, we announce the closure of Fntastic studio. Unfortunately, The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners.

The statement comes just four days after the long-awaited and controversial survival title The Day Before was released after being delayed for years.
The ratings on Steam fell below 20% positive in some cases and many reviews also show that there was probably a wave of returns.

After it became suspiciously quiet on the official channels after the first small patches, questions and suspicions began to pile up, but nobody had really expected this.

In the last few days, more and more information has come to light, while the developers and the remaining freelance employees have been trying to limit the damage.
Among them were curious conditions among the volunteers, employees who had no idea about the state of the game and, of course, the false advertising of the game, which appeared to be something completely different from what many players thought.

The statement also reveals that with the closure, the future of both Propnight and The Day Before are unknown.
However, the servers will remain accessible for both games for the time being.

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

— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) December 11, 2023