The Day Before’s failure shows how false marketing can ruin a studio’s reputation forever

The Day Before was revealed in 2021 as an MMO survival game with impressive graphics. It was said that the game broke all kinds of technical barriers as it showcased features too good to be true. Likewise, it gathered many views for its post-apocalyptic setting in modern America filled with zombies.

Over the years developers preached that The Day Before would be shipped as shown. Hence, the title soon became the most wish-listed product on Steam, due to product presentations. Many even claimed that Fntastic, the developers behind TDB, had the potential to beat Tom Clancy’s The Division, judging from their showcases.

The frequent hyping up of audiences continued as the devs kept releasing new teasers on the game. However, with no news on the development, the hype soon turned into doubts and players questioned the authenticity of the online survival horror title. Moreover, the lack of any gameplay footage made matters worse as it was difficult even for an AAA studio to make such a highly demanding game.

Despite such slander, the developers assured fans and asked for continued patience. As time went on, gamers started noticing uncanny resemblances with major AAA games, and The Day Before became a scam in the public eye. The delays in release dates also increased outrage among fans as it sounded like excuses.

Fntastic asked netizens not to call their title a scam just because there were no gameplay showcases. They even asked players and streamers to go easy on the game as they couldn’t deliver the intended product. Alas, when the game came out in December 2023, everyone realized that false advertisement allegations were indeed true.

How was Fntastic affected by their false marketing with The Day Before?

The Day Before faced multiple backlashes much like Cyberpunk 2077. Yet, fans tried to be patient with Fntastic as it was their first attempt at the genre and the proof of concept seemed appealing. Moreover, when the first trailer was dropped, everyone was reminded of the first The Division with the only difference is the addition of zombies in a massive open world.

After raising the bar so much, fans believed that the game would never be released. People even looked back at other games by the studio and came to the conclusion that TDB was fake. However, on December 7, 2023, the developers proved that even though the game was real, they had lied about everything else.

Right before the release of The Day Before, Fntastic posted a revelation post to specify what to expect. This personal message was a result of their false marketing and it requested people not to criticize the game. The following was quoted in the message:

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.

All these requests didn’t help, as critics, streamers, and players spoke against the game in unision. The final product was nothing close to what was advertised and turned out to be a different game altogether. The Day Before was first advertised as an MMO, however, it ended up being an extraction shooter in a bad way. In its current state, the game is full of bugs, boring gameplay, and lackluster action.

The false marketing by Fntastic ended up hurting the reputation of developers and the sentiments of fans. Fans have lost faith and have a hard time believing what is being said to them due to this. It is also harmful in the long run and AAA studios have been equally held responsible for similar mistakes. For instance, Cyberpunk 2077 launch was disastrous and it took three years for devs to fix it and provide players with a complete experience.

Will Fntastic keep its promise of fixing the game to its intended glory?

Fntastic has learned the lesson of what false marketing can do after the release of The Day Before. The consumers are remorseful towards the developers for lying about the game altogether. Likewise, fans who have anticipated the release of the title have already refunded on Steam with negative reviews.

Even after such a disaster, the developers have pushed an update on December 8, 2023, to fix AI and servers. That isn’t enough as the game requires a complete revamp to create the title that was advertised. Now, it is up to the developers to recreate the mechanics to set things right. However, this is a tough thing to do, as MMO games are tough to create and AAA studios suffer in that department too.

Fntastic is yet to deliver a statement regarding the disastrous launch of The Day Before. Fans are complaining about it being an extraction game and not an MMO. Additionally, most of the buildings are inaccessible, which defeats the purpose of an extraction game as well. At the same time, all the false narrative videos have been deleted by the developers, which might imply that they are trying to hide their mistakes.