Former employees from The Day Before’s studio, Fntastic, released more details about the reason why The Day Before failed. Read on to learn more about the original plans, changes, mistakes, and eventual downfall of the studio.
Days Before The Day Before Collapsed
More information was reported by German gaming outlets, GameStar and Game Two, regarding Fntastic’s practices and it was worse than we thought. In the video above, Game Two spoke to 16 former employees from the game’s publisher, Mytona, on some insight regarding the disaster called The Day Before.
The Original Plan
Originally, The Day Before was supposed to be a small-scale survival game with a winter aesthetic, cartoonish visuals, and a short but contained story. Changes were soon made however, as Fntastic’s management decided to chase industry trends and forgo the original plan. This led to disappointment to the original 20 man team because they preferred the previous approach of having a shorter game. Management, however, wanted to create their ideal triple-A game, as opposed to their original indie game idea.
It wasn’t just small changes compounding onto the pile of changes as well, as they abandoned the cartoon aesthetic entirely and went for more realistic visuals. They even opted to add a character creator because the big triple-A games (mainly Baldur’s Gate 3 and Hogwarts Legacy) at the time had these functionalities. It was reported that they would change versions of certain functionalities just to match the big game at the time, which resulted in the game having 3 different versions during development.
Fntastic Work Environment
The game was marketed as the next big thing, overpromising features and deadlines which were said to come from the founders of Fntastic, brothers Eduard and Aisen Gotovtsev. With reports saying that they treated their team as a "family" and used events and gatherings to combat burnout and raise motivation. However, the team was under constant pressure from spontaneous firings due to a lack of results or something else entirely. To add to the pressure, the team was also fined for making small mistakes during development, as small errors would be subject to monetary penalties.
All of this happened while having an inhumane period of crunch, as the team was expected to work day in and day out. Extended working hours and having no days off was a constant practice in Fntastic, and one of the employees even said that they were "begging for a few hours break to be able to shower and eat."
The Aftermath
When the game finally released on December 7, 2023, it was immediately met with criticism and numerous controversies regarding the game itself. It was the final straw, which led to Fntastic shutting down after declaring the project a "financial failure." They also highlighted that it was their first time trying this sort of release and that "S**t happens." Not long after, the game’s servers shut down last week on January 22, 2024. Which means the game is currently unplayable as of writing.
Sources:
IGN - More Details on The Day's Before Collapse Emerge, And They Aren't Pretty
GameStar - The Day Before: Exklusive Recherche hinter die Kulissen des größten Spiele-Skandals seit Jahren
