It’s almost the day of The Day Before.
There have been many memes, jibes, japes and jokes made about Fntastic’s enigmatic survival MMO, so to make sense of it all, we have The Day Before trailer backlash explained to find out why people are talking about it.
Looking to capitalise on the game shooting up Steam’s Top Wishlists chart, the developers seem to have looked for some “creative inspiration” from others, but many have accused the team of copying homework a little too closely.
It is not only the trailer that has caught the ire of gamers, but developer Fntastic has also been criticised for using “volunteers” to help development, as reported by IGN, although Fntastic said unpaid developers were provided with “cool rewards, participation certificates and free codes”.
Trailers and volunteers aside, only time will tell if The Day Before proves itself, and if it does, perhaps we will all look back on this fondly as a quirky chapter of gaming history.
We certainly don’t have long to find out. Read on to get the scoop as written on the day before The Day Before!
The Day Before trailer backlash explained: Why are people talking about it?
All art is theft, they say, but some have taken issue with what they believe to be particularly clear examples of lifting concepts and visuals from other games, claiming developers Fntastic used other games’ marketing ideas in their trailers for The Day Before.
Force on X (formerly Twitter) posted a side-by-side comparison of the Official 10 Minutes Gameplay Trailer and the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Zombie Reveal Trailer, for example.
They can’t even come up with their own trailer ideas. Straight ripping CoD Zombies shot for shot.
— Force (@ForceStrategy) February 4, 2023
If you’re following The Day Before for anything other than to watch the trainwreck you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
We’re looking at War Z all over again, for sure. pic.twitter.com/m2BVF2R8rL
It’s not just trailers, however: Force goes on to point out that Fntastic’s screenshots are also highly reminiscent of other games, such as The Last of Us, Snow Runner and The Division.
Oh ya, they REALLY love their referencing. They do it all the time: pic.twitter.com/GWwJP8e6Et
— Force (@ForceStrategy) February 5, 2023
There was criticism of the game’s early teases, too, which set a very high bar and saw it shoot up to Steam’s most-wishlisted game (it now holds the second spot), with some believing the final product may not live up to expectations.
It’s relatively easy for developers to put together a highly polished vertical slide, but extending that to an entire game is a whole other beast, some claimed.
Folks were also none too happy to see the game was facing a last-minute delay that saw its release date pushed back from 10th November to 7th December.
Fntastic has heard the criticisms, though, and they have released a statement on X to provide some context.
📢 #thedaybefore #fntastic pic.twitter.com/nKJ3mqSHnt
— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) December 4, 2023
Specifically relating to “a person who didn’t believe in us”, Fantastic asked: “Please forgive us for not doing the best marketing and teasers,” and goes on to explain, “We learn something new and improve ourselves every single day.”
It added: “Please don’t accuse us of asset flip; that’s not true also. Our team worked day and night for five years to make our dream game a reality.”
The developer also thanked fans for “protecting us from injustice and fakes”, and has previously commented on claims it had used other games’ marketing as inspiration for its own.
“We all live in a time of disinformation and lack of fact-checking,” Fntastic said in a statement on Twitter, now X, back in February.
#thedaybefore #indiedev #gamedev pic.twitter.com/p9hOjONVIa
— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) February 8, 2023
“Anyone can say anything for views, and everyone will believe it. Disinformation needs to be dealt with as it can harm not only us but also other indies and small/medium studios. It also has a mental impact on the members of such teams.
“After the release of The Day before, we’ll think about how to help novice developers deal with fakes and allocate resources for this.”
The practice of using other media as inspiration for new content is nothing new, either. We’ll just have to see what the final game looks like when it arrives tomorrow (Thursday 7th December) and judge for ourselves!
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