• Fntastic has shut down its studio just four days after the release of its highly anticipated title, The Day Before.
• Upon jumping into the game, players discovered it wasn’t anything like what the developers had showed off and a stream of negative reviews were lumped on the developer.
• The game’s publisher says it is working with Steam to facilitate refunds for players who want one.

Billed as a massive multiplayer online game, early looks at The Day Before left folks wondering out loud whether it was a real game and whether it would ever be released. Last week Friday, the game released in early access and it was poorly received.

After logging into the game it was quickly discovered that The Day Before wasn’t an MMO and was instead an extraction shooter loaded with pre-made assets. Clips online showcase an abandoned city with very few enemies and other players, buildings were empty and some models grew to gargantuan sizes. By all accounts, The Day Before wasn’t ready for release and yet, it was released.

Unfortunately for developer Fntastic, players weren’t pleased with what they received and the game quickly garnered a “Overwhelmingly Negative” review rating on Steam. As of the time of writing 20 415 reviews have been left and most, if not all, are negative.

However, maybe Fntastic could turn this around? Maybe The Day Before could become the No Man’s Sky of 2023. Oh wait, that can’t happen because on Monday evening, Fntastic announced it was shutting down.

“Today we announce the closure of Fntastic studio. Unfortunately, The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners,” the developer wrote.

To put this statement into perspective, The Day Before launched on Friday 8th December. This means Fntastic gave the game four days – give or take an hour or two – to succeed. That is a very tight margin and one has to wonder how bad finances at the developer were for a four-day stint to spell the game’s doom.

Fntastic says that servers for The Day Before and its other game Propnight will remain operational but the future of both of these games is unknown.

“We apologize if we didn’t meet your expectations. We did everything within our power, but unfortunately, we miscalculated our capabilities. Creating games is an incredibly challenging endeavor,” Fntastic said.

Shortly after this statement was issued, the game was removed from sale on Steam and players have been trying to get a refund on their purchase. Normally, Steam only grants refunds within 14-days of purchase, provided the player has only played the game for less than two hours. Of course, this isn’t a normal situation.

The Day Before’s publisher, Mytona, says that it’s working with Steam to facilitate refunds.

“As the investor of The Day Before we would like to provide some updates on the current situation around the game. 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,” Mytona wrote.

It’s unclear how many people will seek out a refund but with Fntastic shuttering, we encourage any owners of the game to apply for a refund, especially considering that the game’s future is uncertain at this stage.

The Day Before was one of the most wishlisted games on Steam and we suspect that thousands of gamers want their money back on the back of this news.