Update, 12/12/23:
Fntastic, the studio behind The Day Before, announced yesterday that it was shutting down. It said at the time that servers for the game, which launched last week on December 7, would remain operational but that the future of The Day Before is unknown. Now, less than 24 hours later, The Day Before is no longer available for purchase on Steam (although you can still visit the page).
Plus, anyone who purchased the game is eligible for a refund, according to Fntastic.
"Answer to those who ask for a refund," a Fntastic tweet reads. "[We and publisher Mytona are] currently working with Steam to allow refunds for any player who chooses to request one, regardless of the game time. Fntastic received $0 and will receive nothing from The Day Before sales."
Notably, Steam allows users to refund games if they've played it for less than two hours and it hasn't been more than 14 days since the purchase date. Mytona, however, is offering refunds to anyone who purchased The Day Before.
Mytona also posted the following statement on Twitter:
"To all The Day Before players: As the investor of The Day Before, we would like to provide some updates on the current situation around the game. We are sorry for the fact that the game didn't meet expectations of the majority of the players. Today we will work with Steam to open up refunds for any players who choose to make a refund. We're in contact with Fntastic regarding the future of the game."
The original story continues below...
Original story, 12/11/23:
Fntastic, the studio behind The Day Before, is shutting down. It announced the closure today with a statement that arrives just four days after the The Day Before launched into Early Access on December 7.
The studio says servers for The Day Before will remain operational, but it also says at this moment, the future of the game (and its 2021 release, Propnight) are unknown. Fntastic opened in 2015 – its first game was The Wild Eight, released in 2017.
Here is Fntastic's statement on its closing, in full:
"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. We invested all our efforts, resources, and man-hours into the development of The Day Before, which was our first huge game. We really wanted to release new patches to reveal the full potential of the game, but unfortunately, we don't have the funding to continue the work.
"It's important to note that we didn't take any money from the public during the development of The Day Before; there were no pre-orders or crowdfunding campaigns. We worked tirelessly for five years, pouring our blood, sweat, and tears into the game. At the moment, the future of The Day Before and Propnight is unknown, but the servers will remain operational. We apologize if we didn't meet your expectations. We did everything within our power, but unfortunately, we miscalculated our capabilities. Creating games is an incredibly challenging endeavor."
The statement also lists its schedule of releases over the years, as you can see above.
The Day Before launched into Early Access last week, on December 7. As reported by IGN, the game peaked at 38,104 concurrent users at launch on Steam but today, that number is down to 4,197 players, according to SteamDB. In those four days, The Day Before also received enough negative reviews from players to place it into the 10 worst-reviewed games on Steam.
Over the years, The Day Before has been the subject of controversy, ranging from requests for volunteer work, various delays, broken promises, and more. Oddly, Fntastic has scrubbed its entire YouTube channel, leaving the following note as its channel's description: "We're grateful to everyone who supported us during these difficult years. It's been a fantastic journey over the past eight years."
Have you played any of The Day Before? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!