The Day Before publisher apologises for game as Steam refunds open

UPDATE 5pm UK: Hype Train Digital has confirmed to Eurogamer why it changed the developer on Steam for The Wild Eight from Fntastic to Eight Points.

The change was made yesterday, which Hype Train has confirmed was due to the game receiving negative reviews on Steam following the debacle with The Day Before.

"Fntastic was the original developer of The Wild Eight, but after the game's release in Early Access, the developers decided to discontinue work on the project due to internal reasons within the studio. Hypetrain Digital took over the development independently. All business relations with Fntastic were terminated in 2017," reads the response to Eurogamer.

"Following the release of The Day Before on December 7, 2023, a wave of negative reviews for The Wild Eight began, unrelated to the game itself but associated with the original development studio, Fntastic. Yesterday, we made the decision to remove any mention of the developer Fntastic from the game's page."

The original story concerning The Day Before and Mytona continues below.

ORIGINAL STORY 12pm UK: Mytona, the publisher of disastrous zombie MMO The Day Before, has issued an apology for the game and will work with Steam to open refunds.

Yesterday, developer Fntastic shut down with immediate effect, stating the game had "failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue". This was just days after it launched and swiftly received a highly negative response from players.

"We are sorry for the fact that the game didn't meet the expectations of the majority of the players," reads a statement from Mytona, noting it's an investor in the game.

"Today we will work with Steam to open up refunds for any players who choose to make a refund. We're in contact with Fntastic regarding the future of the game."

A post from Fntastic on X, formerly Twitter, adds that refunds will be available for any player regardless of game time. It also notes it's received no money from sales of the game.

Eurogamer has contacted Valve for comment on offering refunds on Steam.

The closure of Fntastic has had a number of knock-on effects.

Not least of all, The Day Before is no longer available to purchase on Steam. The game's page remains but there is no purchase option. In addition, Fntastic CEO Eduard Gotovstev has removed his X account, though it's unclear why.

The game's Discord server has also been wiped, Eurogamer can confirm.

It's also been spotted that The Wild Eight, available on Steam, had its developer changed from Fntastic to Eight Points yesterday, as per SteamDB.

According to that game's Kickstarter, the developer was originally Eight Points but changed its name to Fntastic. However, a Rock Paper Shotgun article from 2017 states The Wild Eight was sold to publisher Hype Train Digital as Fntastic went on to make a new game, Dead Dozen. Perhaps the developer of Eight Points was simply listed incorrectly on Steam, but the timing of the change has certainly added to confusion around Fntastic.

Eurogamer has contacted Hype Train for clarification.

At release on 7th December, The Day Before achieved a concurrent player peak of 38,104, according to SteamDB. Four days later, the concurrent player count had dropped to 4768 at midnight 11th December. That's a drop in players of over 87 percent and has since dropped further.

It's been a messy launch and end for The Day Before, then, which was mired in controversy from the start. Fntastic repeatedly refuted claims the game was a scam, though its launch will have done little to change the minds of players.