Following the disastrous launch of The Day Before, its developer has said it is working with Steam to make refunds available to all, and insisted it will receive no money from sales of the game.
The Day Before was once Steam’s most-wishlisted game, but following its early access launch last week it was met with a backlash for failing to deliver a game even close to what was promised. IGN’s The Day Before review returned a rare 1/10. We said: “The Day Before is easily one of the worst games I’ve ever played, to the point where I’m afraid to continue running it on my PC – and if you didn’t manage to try it, you can count yourself as one of the lucky ones.”
With player numbers in free-fall and an ‘overwhelmingly negative’ user review rating on Steam, The Day Before developer Fntastic made the shock announcement that it was closing down. Soon after, Fntastic removed the purchase button on the game's Steam page and wiped its presence from the internet. All this just four days after The Day Before launched in early access.
Customers have labelled The Day Before a “scam” and demanded refunds. In a statement issued to IGN, a Fntastic spokesperson confirmed that the developer and its publisher, Mytona, are working with Steam to open up refunds to any player who wants one, regardless of game time. Steam’s refund policy limits refunds to those requested within 14 days of purchase and with less than two hours of game time, but it seems the situation with The Day Before has required drastic action. IGN has asked Valve for comment.
Meanwhile, Fntastic has issued statements on its X/Twitter account, what looks like the last remaining platform from which the developer can comment publicly. In its latest tweet, Fntastic confirmed it is working on refunds, and insisted it will receive no money from sales of the game.
“Answer to those who ask for a refund. Mytona and we're currently working with Steam to allow refunds for any player who chooses to request one, regardless of game time. Fntastic received $0 and will receive nothing from The Day Before sales.”
As you’d expect, there is a great deal of anger at Fntastic over The Day Before, and this latest tweet sparked renewed criticism about how the developer handled the game’s marketing in the run up to the much-delayed launch.
“Unbelievable that you guys hyped this game up so much and this is the end result,” said one X/Twitter user. “You guys are an absolute disgrace to the video game industry.”
Fntastic replied to this tweet with another comment that has only fuelled the anger surrounding the developer:
“This was our first big experience. Shit happens.”
“Shit happens? You blatantly misled people with your ‘gameplay’ trailers that were completely fake and didn’t represent the released product at all,” replied one user. “You lied. Got caught red handed and wanna misdirect your fuck ups.”
Publisher Mytona, which apparently retains ownership of The Day Before intellectual property and provided development investment into Fntastic, issued a statement of its own on X/Twitter:
“We are sorry for the fact that the game didn’t meet the 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.”
Analyst Andrew Uerkwitz, a managing director at the financial services firm Jefferies, told IGN so-called ‘scam’ games will likely become more prevalent as third-party game engines become easier to use among the spread of AI enablement. “The good news is gamers are very good at figuring these things out,” Uerkwitz said.
As for the ownership of The Day Before, Uerkwitz said in the case of company closures, the IP transfers to someone or some company, and any proceeds would go there, assuming the game remains on sale. It looks like Mytona owns The Day Before IP, and so will receive any revenue made from the game (after refunds are taken into account of course).
For now, it seems The Day Before and developer Fntastic are both dead in the water.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
