A name change could be in store for mysterious MMO The Day Before, as it attempts to resolve its trademark dispute - though this could in fact to lead to another trademark dispute.
As first reported by Well Played, The Day Before developer Fntastic and publisher Mytona have filed a joint trademark for "Dayworld" under the name Mytona Fntastic, which appears to be a joining of the two companies. This Dayworld listing specifically highlights "downloadable game software" and "downloadable video game programs," which leaves little to the imagination.
The trouble is that if The Day Before is about to rebrand itself to Dayworld, it could well have another trademark dispute on its hands. Author Philip José Farmer published a trilogy of books under the 'Dayworld' titles between 1985 and 1990, and while Well Played couldn't find evidence of an existing trademark for the Dayworld novels, that doesn't mean Mytona Fntastic won't face legal pushback.
Putnam Publishing Group, a child company of the Penguin Group, originally published the Dayworld trilogy . The latter company you've probably heard of, such is their weight in the publishing world, so it wouldn't be a surprise if the Penguin Group decide to fight to keep its Dayworld book trilogy distinct from the new venture from Mytona Fntastic.
The Day Before was originally delayed by nine months earlier this year in January, due to the fact that Fntastic simply forgot to trademark the name of its own game. The zombie MMO game was pulled from Steam over the whole ordeal, before Fntastic claimed it would have The Day Before back on Steam "soon." That was in early June, and there's been no word on the matter since.
In fact, there hasn't really been any word on The Day Before at all of late. Fntastic has sort of gone radio silent on the whole situation, only popping up back in late June to promise houses, saunas, and jobs for their apocalyptic MMO. It certainly has not been a year to remember for Fntastic or The Day Before, but if the game still plans to launch in November 2023, it'll have to get a move on with its name change.
Check out our upcoming PC games guide for a look ahead at all the other games set to come to PC at some point in the future.
