When it was announced back in January of 2021, The Day Before’s eye-catching reveal trailer and lofty promises certainly turned fair few heads, but the months that followed were marked by numerous delays, poor communication from developer Fntastic, and a general perception of overpromising, which, as you might expect, has led to plenty of widespread skepticism where the game and its prospects are concerned.
Now, on the eve of The Day Before’s long overdue release (albeit, unexpectedly, in early access rather than as a full game), Fntastic has issued a statement on its official Twitter account.
Though much of the statement consists of messages for the game’s future players, streamers, supporters, behind-the-scenes partners, the developer has dedicated one particularly strange section to those who “didn’t believe in us”, where, in addition to apologizing for “not doing the best marketing and teasers”, Fntastic says it doesn’t “hold a grudge” against critics, and asks people not to accuse it of “scamming” or having developed an “asset flip”.
The developer wrote: “To a person who didn’t believe in us: we made this game for you, too. We accept any kind of criticism and don’t hold a grudge against you. Before we continue moving forward together, kindly allow us to note a few things:
“Please forgive us for not doing the best marketing and teasers. We learn something new and improve ourselves every single day.
“Please don’t accuse us of scamming; that’s not true. We didn’t take a penny from anyone.
“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.
“Please don’t underestimate our work; it wasn’t easy. We are like you; we work hard. And we’re incredibly happy that our game will finally see the light of day for everyone to explore.”
Since its announcement, The Day Before has come under fire for a variety of reasons, from Fntastic not showing gameplay for long stretches, the gameplay looking underwhelming when it was finally shown earlier this year, a lack of communication from the developer regarding the state of the project, a string of delays, accusations of unpaid volunteers contributing to important parts of development, and more.
The Day Before is set to launch in early access for PC via Steam on December 7.