Everything going on with failed Steam zombie shooter The Day Before continues to shock and amaze. The latest wild development is studio Fntastic’s response to the entire self-inflicted debacle: “shit happens.”
That’s what the Russia-based development team wrote in response to a player accusing them of overhyping the game when they knew it was bad. “You guys are an absolute disgrace to the Video Game Industry,” wrote Twitter user Kypershot. “This was our first big experience,” Fantastic wrote back. “Shit happens.”
That brief but profound statement came after the studio performed possibly the greatest speedrun in live service gaming malfeasance history. The Day Before, originally billed as a zombie MMO mashup of The Last Of Us and The Division, turned out to be a buggy, incomplete extraction shooter that paled in comparison to its early trailers. In the span of just four days:
- The Day Before launched
- Got review bombed on Steam
- Fntastic announced it was closing
- Fntastic nuked its website, YouTube, Discord, and CEO Eduard Gotovtsev’s Twitter account
- The Day Before got removed from Steam
- Publisher Mytona promised full refunds
- Fntastic continued to post through it
If you want the full timeline from reveal to release, Aftermath has an excellent rundown of each step in the drama-filled saga, beginning with the original IGN exclusive trailers that got everyone hyped. The big question remains: was this malice, incompetence, or both? Did the studio try to swindle players or just get out way over its skis and crash into the side of a mountain?
One thing that is clear: “shit happens” appears to be the extent of Fntastic taking accountability for the mess. Players have already spotted the studio seemingly attempting to rebrand as “8 Points” on Kickstarter, Steam, and elsewhere so that the stink of The Day Before doesn’t rub off on its other projects. Fntastic has so far been unresponsive to requests for comment.