You may have forgotten about The Day Before (opens in new tab) by now. It was first announced in January 2021 as “an open-world MMO survival” game, and then in April of that year we got a 10-minute gameplay video (opens in new tab). And that’s really been it—nothing of substance has been heard about the game since.
That situation will soon change, though, as developer Fntastic says that it will reveal “raw gameplay footage” from The Day Before later this month.
“We are pleased to inform you that the wait for news regarding our game release is coming to an end,” Fntastic wrote in a Discord (opens in new tab) announcement. “After careful consideration and discussions with our leadership team, we have received approval to share the information you have been eagerly anticipating.
“This month, we will be releasing raw gameplay footage, as per the numerous requests received from our community. This footage will showcase a majority of the features and gameplay elements requested by our community and will provide a clear glimpse into the current state of development for The Day Before.”
It’s not all that terribly unusual for a studio to go quiet in the midst of game development. What makes The Day Before situation so odd is that, according to Steam (opens in new tab), it’s set to launch on March 1. That’s just a month and a half from now, and yet it apparently took “careful consideration and discussions” to decide to publicly showcase the game. That seems weird, right?
The Day Before isn’t Fntastic’s first kick at the cat: Prior to this, it released the well-received survival adventure The Wild Game, which made Chris eat his own dead body (opens in new tab) to stay alive. It’s also very highly anticipated, second only to Hogwarts Legacy on Steam’s top wishlists chart (opens in new tab). It’s possible, I suppose, that the silence is strategy, and if so it seems to be paying off, at least based on the interest being shown on Steam. Still seems a little weird to me, though.
We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for that gameplay footage, and whatever comes after it. In the meantime, I’ve reached out to Fntastic to ask why the studio has been so quiet with the release date so close, and will update if I receive a reply.