The gaming world is no stranger to development hiccups and project pivots, but the story of ‘The Day Before’ is one for the ages. A recent documentary by German games sites Game Two and GameStar has peeled back the curtain on the chaos that was the development of this ill-fated game, and the details are nothing short of jaw-dropping.
Imagine working on a game’s character creator, only to have to overhaul it repeatedly to mimic the latest trends from GTA Online to Hogwarts Legacy, and then Baldur’s Gate 3. This was the reality for the developers at Fntastic, the now-defunct studio behind ‘The Day Before’. The whims of the Gotovtsev brothers, founders of the studio, dictated the game’s ever-changing scope and style. A former developer even admitted to learning that the game was supposed to be an MMO only after seeing a trailer for it.
But the development woes don’t stop at erratic creative direction. The working conditions described by former employees are harrowing. ‘Voluntary’ unpaid overtime, months of crunch so severe that one employee begged for a break to shower or eat, and a policy of spontaneous termination that saw one of the game’s five testers fired just before release after a bug was encountered. The most shocking allegation, perhaps, is that employees were fined for substandard work, with some reportedly forced to pay $1,930 for poor-quality voice recordings.
The Gotovtsev brothers themselves are shrouded in mystery post-Fntastic’s closure. They disappeared around the game’s launch, which staff believe was due to a foreknowledge of the game’s dire state, and only resurfaced to close the studio via Microsoft Teams. Rumors suggest they may have started anew with a mobile game studio, but details are scarce.
‘The Day Before’ managed to build anticipation and secure a significant number of pre-orders based on footage and promises that, in hindsight, masked the game’s true state. It faced severe delays, including a bizarre dispute with a calendar app, and its first gameplay demo did little to inspire confidence. Upon launch, the game was met with mockery and scorn, and Fntastic closed its doors just four days later.
The saga of ‘The Day Before’ is a cautionary tale of ambition outstripping capability, mismanagement, and of the human cost of an industry that sometimes chases trends at the expense of its workforce.It’s a stark reminder of the potential pitfalls in game development and the importance of a clear, consistent vision and ethical treatment of employees.
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The Day Before was an even bigger disaster than you thought: devs reportedly made to pay fines for bad work, learned it was an MMO from the trailers, and no one’s sure where the bosses are
The Day Before fallout continues as former devs allege awful working conditions and management so bad that some staff didn’t know they were supposed to make an MMO
