The Day Before is one of the most controversial games ever made, with some outright calling it a scam. It’s easy to see why when it was nothing like the trailers. You might be wondering, then, why ex-developer Fntastic’s co-founders are already looking to make a new title. Worse yet, they’re assembling a team as if nothing ever happened.
Fntastic closed its doors in December, dissolving pretty much everything. Steam rushed to the rescue, issuing its first-ever no-questions-asked refund regardless of how many hours you put into the game. Now, The Day Before servers have finally bit the dust this week, on January 22.
In the same breath, CD-Action reports that brothers Eduard and Aisen Gotovtsev have turned their attention to a new project. The claim comes from a former Fntastic employee who says the duo tapped them to join the new studio. Currently in the recruitment stage with no public name, the team is looking for industry “veterans.”
The head-scratcher isn’t so much that the siblings are making a new game. Everyone has to earn money, after all. It’s more that they sent a template invitation to join them with no personalisation or reference to the controversy. Leaving a bitter taste, the duo also invited all former Fntastic employees, including those they’d fired or who had left unceremoniously.
Unsurprisingly, everyone the publication spoke to “unanimously” declined. The folks over at iXBT, however, have reason to believe that some have taken up the offer. I couldn’t tell you why.
As for the project, we don’t know a great deal about it beyond the fact it’s a mobile game. The Gotovtsevs are keeping cards close to their chest. This is likely in hopes that the recent kerfuffle will be like dust swept under the rug eventually.
It’s difficult to believe a game that was once Steam’s most-wishlisted is now one of its most maligned. Even if the brothers manage to collect a reputable team for the upcoming game, they have a mountain to climb in order to earn consumer trust back. Somehow, I doubt it’s even possible.
