Upon its announcement in 2021, The Day Earlier than hyped many gamers up for what gave the impression to be a somewhat formidable MMO zombie survival recreation. For a time, The Day Earlier than had turn into probably the most wishlisted recreation on Steam. Nevertheless, The Day Earlier than has since seen a hefty delay from 2022 to 2023, and simply yesterday, the sport acquired one other one. This time, developer Fntastic acknowledged that it has delayed The Day Earlier than from its earlier March 1 launch date to November 10.
After all, loads of video games obtain a number of delays like this, however Fntastic cited a somewhat unusual motive for this newest one. Apparently, Fntastic had somehow neglected to file The Day Earlier than’s trademark. One other particular person by the title of Solar Jae Lee opted to take action as a substitute. This identical particular person despatched a trademark criticism to Fntastic on January 19, and the developer apparently didn’t find out about “the existence of claims” earlier than this. In response to Fntastic, it initially aimed to add a large gameplay video later in January, however this case now signifies that the developer has to seek the advice of its attorneys earlier than doing so.
As if that wasn’t weird sufficient, The Day Earlier than‘s Steam web page was taken down yesterday. At first, Fntastic blamed this on a small bug that “has affected a number of titles prior to now.” However its Twitter assertion launched a number of hours later claimed {that a} request despatched by Lee prompted Steam to delist the sport.
— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) January 25, 2023
The Day Earlier than will get delayed, however what’s going on?
Even properly earlier than this assertion, many gamers grew suspicious of the sport’s existence, and now their doubts have solely amplified. Among the replies to the assertion identified the inherent absurdity of saying a recreation earlier than securing the trademark for it. Others questioned the assertion’s wording, which ensured followers that the builders will give attention to releasing “the very best recreation potential.” The builders didn’t point out something in regards to the recreation’s present high quality when explaining the explanation for the delay, and contemplating they supposedly would have launched the sport solely 5 weeks from now if not for the trademarking subject, it appeared unusual to say this.
But it surely will get weirder. Widespread YouTuber Skill Up famous that even the lead Discord mod for The Day Earlier than had expressed doubt in regards to the recreation’s existence. Regardless of having introduced the gameplay video that Fntastic had teased so closely, the mod admitted that neither they nor the remainder of the mod crew had truly seen it.
None of that is to say the controversy that arose final 12 months when Fntastic revealed that it largely relied on unpaid volunteers for the sport’s growth. Evidently, the historical past surrounding this recreation has been a complicated one. There are clear considerations from the group that The Day Earlier than is a rip-off, and judging by the weird occurrences surrounding this recreation, some could discover their worries justified. If the November 10 launch date arrives and The Day Earlier than will get delayed but once more, it’ll solely throw extra gas on the blaze.
Picture by way of Mytona
