Upcoming zombie survival MMO The Day Before is one of the most talked about games of the year so far, but for all the wrong reasons. Originally announced in January 2021, The Day Before had an impressive debut trailer that showcased cutting-edge graphics and open-world PvP. Looking like an online open-world version of The Last of Us, it quickly became Steam's most wishlisted game. However, due to confusing marketing, poor communication, and further gameplay trailers leading to questions about its legitimacy, it's now among the most controversial.
The developer of The Day Before, FNTASTIC, has left its fans confused regarding the game's delays and development. Additionally, the gameplay trailers that have been released over the last couple of years have shown a clear lack of substance. A debate has even broken out over whether the game is real or not, as many industry veterans claim the developer is only showing vertical slices of levels rather than raw gameplay. With a new expected release date of November 10, 2023, for The Day Before, there's still time for it to regain trust and hope among gamers.
The Day Before's Troubled History
The Day Before seems to have a strange knack for massive delays just weeks before launch. Just one month before The Day Before's expected release date of June 21, 2022, FNTASTIC decided to delay the game nine months to March 1, 2023. The reason given for the delay was that it would be moving development to Unreal Engine 5. Switching game engines is certainly not unheard of, but doing this only one month before release seemed like a peculiar decision. This was one of the first of several moments that would see confidence in The Day Before drop and speculation rise.
With each new trailer released for The Day Before, skepticism has only continued to grow. Some point out that the footage shown likely doesn't reflect actual gameplay, causing an increasing demand for the developer to release raw gameplay. In addition to its divisive trailers, recent news and events surrounding The Day Before have sparked widespread discussion in the past several weeks.
On January 25, 2023, the game mysteriously disappeared from Steam's storefront. The developer initially said it was a Steam bug, but then later attributed it to a trademark issue, which resulted in the game being delayed another nine months. As many have pointed out, a nine-month delay for a trademark issue seems highly unlikely, which was later confirmed that the delay was already planned before the trademark dispute. The new gameplay trailer that doesn't do much to impress serves as a prime example of what the developer can do in the future to increase hype for The Day Before.
How The Day Before Can Recover
Initial trailers for The Day Before were certainly impressive, but it's pretty clear at this point that the final product will not be nearly as ambitious. Still, The Day Before's newest 10-minute gameplay trailer appears to show the most accurate representation of gameplay players have seen so far. Unfortunately, many have criticized it for showcasing a lifeless world, non-threatening enemies, and spending about eight of its ten minutes simply walking around. Future trailers need to have a lot more combat and show players the systems and content within the game that will keep them coming back.
One of the biggest hurdles that FNTASTIC must overcome is the high expectations of the game based on its first couple of trailers. First impressions are everything, and after those trailers were released, gamers were incredibly excited to learn more about the game. However, FNTASTIC kept quiet on details about The Day Before and has continued to provide little new information over the course of its development. More communication and transparency in the future will go a long way toward instilling confidence in its fans.
The Day Before's controversy has grown in large part due to the increasing online discussion about whether the game is even real. The most effective way to dispel this would be to invite the press and influencers to preview the game and capture their own gameplay footage. Even if it's a small portion of the game they're able to play, and it offers a bare-bones experience, that would still likely be enough to turn many back onto the game after all the talk about The Day Before being fake or a potential scam.
The Day Before is scheduled to release on November 10, 2023, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.