Fntastic's MMO third-person shooter The Day Before has been earning a lot of attention ever since it was announced in January 2021. From being Steam's most wishlisted game, further and further release dates, and switching from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, it seems there is no shortage of topics to talk about when concerning The Day Before.
Recent news has revealed that the game developers are searching for part-time and full-time volunteers to make The Day Before, and in turn, the part-time volunteers will receive participation certificates and free codes. Reactions are varying across the board, but the overall consensus is that this decision feels quite odd, potentially exploitative, and doesn't bode well for the game's intended release date of March 1, 2023.
The Day Before May Fall to the Wayside Like Abandoned
This isn't the first time volunteers have assisted in the creation of the game, and it won't be the last, but the process isn't always successful. In 2018, a project deemed Unreal Tournament 4 was left unfinished after Epic Games utilized an open development plan. The development fizzled out after waning interest from both Epic and the volunteers themselves who had faced too much input for a small team to handle.
While the pre-launch popularity of the post-pandemic survival game is undeniable, it can't be ignored that The Day Before was supposed to debut on June 21 of this year. Prior to that, it aimed a release window in 2021, which had fans believing that the game was making good headway. The game announcement and following trailers displayed impressive graphics, but fans are beginning to wonder if these videos are accurate representations of the game. Publisher MYTONA and Fntastic have never released a title of this magnitude before and the constant changes to the development progress are somewhat worrisome.
Following The Day Before's switch from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, it's likely that a lot of previous work had to be scrapped. Even if the work doesn't have to be completely redone, it will take quite a bit of effort to port the game into the new system, along with integrating new technology. It may very well be possible that The Day Before is heading down a dark path that leads to being forgotten.
In a similar vein, production on the horror survival shooter Abandoned by Blue Box Game Studios has stalled indefinitely, with no word on if it's ever coming. Announced just three months after The Day Before, Abandoned was first revealed on the PlayStation Blog alongside a sixty-second teaser trailer. An official trailer did come out on the company's YouTube Channel, but it has been since removed.
Blue Box studio's founder, Hasan Kahraman, has been accused of lying about the would-be PlayStation 5 game. Although the Abandoned game still has not been officially canceled, there are few signs that the game is making any significant progress in development.
The idea that Blue Box was never going to make Abandoned seems plausible, thanks to the wealth of testimony. Some claim to have been shown behind-the-scenes of the game, ranging from animations, a page from the script, and screenshots but noticed that many of these materials featured the words "Silent Hill 5" on them, which led them to ponder their legitimacy. Regardless of the truth in these claims, Abandoned is now mired in delays and a damaged reputation, and The Day Before is developing worryingly similar elements of controversy and development roadblocks.
With any luck, progress on The Day Before will pick up and their volunteers and workers alike will be treated fairly. With nearly all hope lost for Abandoned, it seems The Day Before is set to be either a new gaming phenomenon or a major disappointment.
The Day Before is set to release on March 1, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.