The Day Before: Everything we know about the canceled survival shooter

After years of speculation and controversy, The Day Before launched into Early Access on December 7. The zombie survival MMO has been subjected to multiple delays over the years and many were excited to finally jump in and see what all the hype was about – it's easy to forget now, but there was a time where it was the most wishlisted game on Steam. It's easy to forget that now because the launch has been an unmitigated disaster, with developer Fntastic forced to cease development on the game and shutter its doors just four days after the game released to the public. You'll find more information on that, and The Day Before's development journey, below.

The Day Before canceled 

Just four days after its launch into Early Access, developer Fntastic confirmed that the game "has failed financially" after a disastrous release (Steam reviews are 'Overwhelmingly Negative') and that the studio is subsequently having to close its doors. The studio has indicated that the servers will remain active for the time being, and The Day Before is still listed as a purchasable title. There's been no word yet on whether refunds will be issued for anybody who took the plunge on day one. 

The Day Before release date  

The Day Before launched into Early Access on December 7, 2023. The open world survival game was originally due to launch on March 1, 2023, although a delay pushed one of the most anticipated upcoming PC games back by 10 months to November 10, before being delayed another month to December 7. The first delay occurred last year, with Fntastic originally missing a June 2022 window to shift development to Unreal Engine 5.

The Day Before delay

Fntastic was forced to announce the initial The Day Before delay on January 25, following a trademark dispute. The studio says that "at the time of the announcement, The Day Before game trademark was available" but that in the months since its announcement "a private individual filled out an application before us to register the game trademark The Day Before in the United States." Fntastic said at the time it was only recently made aware of claims against the studio's use of the trademarked name, and is now working to "solve everything" – citing this as the principal reason for a delay of the both the game and any new footage. 

A further delay came later, with a expected release date set for November 10 that was then pushed back to the slightly later date of December 7. 

The Day Before Steam page

While a new The Day Before gameplay trailer was expected to land in January 2023, fans were instead surprised to find that The Day Before Steam page was delisted. At the time, the studio believed that a "minor technical difficulty" had caused the page to go offline, and that one of the most wishlisted pages on the platform would return shortly. We now know that the Steam page for The Day Before went offline because of a copyright claim against the game from a private individual. 

The Day Before's Steam page is now live again.

The Day Before platforms 

The upcoming MMO is currently set to land on PC at launch, with Fntastic also confirming that it is looking at the possibility of The Day Before Xbox Series X/S and PS5 releases. While a console is still planned, the developer has confirmed it won't be coming until the game releases in full, with an indefinite delay. 

The Day Before Unreal Engine 5 

The delayed release of The Day Before came as a result of the decision to move the development of the project onto Unreal Engine 5. In a statement to IGN, Fntastic stated that the move to the "more advanced and adapted open worlds engine will make the gameplay of The Day Before even more fantastic". As we've seen from other upcoming Unreal Engine 5 games, the latest engine from Epic is able to deliver an incredibly realistic level of detail that really makes the most of new-gen technology. The environments we've seen glimpses of so far already look impressive, but The Day Before's world will undoubtedly benefit from the move – here's hoping it adds to the level of immersion as we scavenge locations. 

The Day Before Trailer

The first initial reveal trailer for The Day Before dropped back in 2021, giving us our first look at a gameplay demo of the MMO. With a guided tour of some locations complete with narration, we got to see some scavenging – including looting a cowboy hat – some gunfights against the infected, and some PvP action for good measure, it instantly gave us Last of Us meets The Division vibes at first glance. The script of the trailer certainly made it a memorable one to say the least. Following on from the debut showcase of the game, a more recent trailer also landed that showed off some of the environments of the post-pandemic setting with ray-tracing.

The Day Before gameplay  

While we've gotten to see glimpses of the game in trailers, our first look at gameplay footage came in a video from IGN back in 2021. The footage shows two players scavenging around for supplies in a gas station and taking out infected foes nearby with their guns. The footage offers some insight into the inventory and how we'll be able to loot - which does bring to mind State of Decay in some respects. In the lead up to the original launch date, we'd still not seen all that much of the game in action, especially since the move to Unreal Engine 5. 

But after revealing that we could expect to see gameplay sometime in January prior to the news of the delay, Fntastic released 10 minutes of footage on February 2. The video begins with two player characters running through the street of an abandoned residential area, before looting from a house. We're then taken through empty city streets, with a few zombie encounters. Unfortunately, the reception to the gameplay reveal so far has been largely that of disappointment. 

While we've yet to see any more gameplay in action, Fntastic touched on the fact that The Day Before will feature jobs, houses, and saunas in the apocalypse in an interview with Well Played. In the same interview, the developer also spoke about the enemies, with  "various types of infected" that have been designed to "add to the complexity and thrill of the game". 

"However, it’s essential to note that the core focus of the game isn’t solely on zombies," Fntastic continue, "Instead, the heart of our game lies within the interactions and experiences of the players themselves as they navigate and inhabit this post-apocalyptic world." 

The Day Before dev vlog

Following The Day Before's delay and setbacks surrounding a trademark dispute, the studio confirmed that we could expect to see a developer update. Released as part of the "Life at Fntastic" video series, the vlog details how the game has changed over since development first began back in 2019, but didn't show us anything new in terms of footage. There's still a lot of questions surrounding the project, with the video only serving to raise more among the community since it released. 

The Day Before controversy  

With a growing sense of anticipation surrounding the MMO since its reveal in 2021, there has been some scepticism and controversy surfacing about The Day Before. Some controversy surfaced shortly after the news of a delay, when the studio appeared to be looking for "volunteers" to help with its upcoming projects (although it's clear as to whether this was related to The Day Before, specifically). The biggest sticking point was the website's description of part-time volunteers "ranging from translating to community moderating" who receive non-monetary rewards such as "participation certificates and free codes". 

The scepticism on the other hand, is largely due to the fact that we haven't really seen all that much gameplay or had substantial information about the game, which has only intensified as we draw closer to the release date. A video released in January 2023 showed off ray-tracing didn't show any gameplay footage, and fans appeared to remain quite skeptical on whether The Day Before can deliver on its promises. 

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