The Day Before developer Fntastic returns with a new Kickstarter and "plan" to regain trust
Fntastic, the studio responsible for the infamous The Day Before, which was released in late 2023 to widespread criticism and accusations of being a scam, has returned to ask the public to support a new project while promising "transparency" and "professionalism."
The details:
After months of delays and controversies surrounding the game's legitimacy, including a trademark dispute just days before its planned launch and reports of unpaid volunteer work, Fntastic released The Day Before in December 2023. The game was an immediate flop, dropping to fewer than 10,000 players in a matter of days and drawing criticism for using pre-made assets and not being the MMO it portrayed itself to be. As a result, Steam issued refunds to players, removed the game from the storefront, and Fntastic closed its doors.
Although the gaming community believed that this would be the end of the studio, Fntastic has returned. In a post to X, the developer apologized for The Day Before and shared a link to its new "Fntastic 2.0" plan, which covers principles such as "honesty," "transparency," and "professionalism," as well as strategic goals.
As expected, almost no one is pleased to hear of Fntastic's return, with people questioning why the company decided to give the industry another chance after mishandling funds. Despite these criticisms, the studio maintains that it never "scammed" players. "how we scammed? We refunded all the money," it replied on X.
Fntastic has also announced its next title, Escape Factory, a physics-based co-op game in which 2-4 players play as "life-weary workers trying to escape the vicious cycle of deadly factories from which there's no easy way out."
Unsurprisingly, the studio is asking the public to help fund Escape Factory, launching a Kickstarter campaign for $12,000 with only 14 backers at the time of writing. Fntastic states that if the funding goal is not met (which is highly likely), all backers will be refunded, and the game will not be released. “Regaining trust will be tough, but we're motivated to make more games if our Kickstarter succeeds,” the developer said. “With its 'all or nothing' model, contributions will be refunded if we miss the target. We value your support, and all funds will go to development, not profit.”
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