Another strange twist has arrived in the saga of controversial zombie MMO The Day Before, as the devs now say they were planning to delay the game even before its recent trademark dispute.
"We planned to move the game's release before and plan to announce it with [publisher] Mytona in a 10-minute gameplay video," developer Fntastic told IGN. "And then you all know what happened. So to be on the safe side, to ensure there are no more transfers, we, along with the publisher, chose November 10. That is a safe date, given the trademark dispute."
This statement is bizarre, as Fntastic's original comments on the delay pretty directly tied it to the trademark dispute which the company said was also responsible for the game's disappearing Steam page. Now they're saying the delay, or some sort of delay, was planned all along – while simultaneously comparing themselves to action movie heroes.
Seriously, as the statement continues: "Making a fantastic journey from the very ends of the earth, we feel like that simple guy from 90s action movies. You probably remember him as the hero who breaks through the veil of disbelief when no one believes in him, but he finds the inner strength to win and prove to everyone what he is worth in the end."
The Day Before has been courting controversy for some time; perhaps the most notable inflection point was when the studio started looking for unpaid "volunteers" to help development. The recent trademark kerfuffle has made the whole situation boil over, however, with even the game's community moderators openly questioning if The Day Before is real, and power struggles erupting over control of its subreddit.
Everyone is running out of patience for The Day Before, but the devs are insisting that the launch later this year will bear everything out. As their latest statement concludes, "We only believe in the final product. No matter what anyone says, you’ll see for yourself on November 10 this year."
Hopefully at least some of the big new games for 2023 will actually come out.
