Skill Up, a YouTuber, has posted a screenshot from The Day Before Discord server on his Twitter account, showing one of the devs announcing that they will be showing raw gameplay footage before the game's March release. While this could be considered good news, it seems not everyone shares positive sentiments about The Day Before.The Day Before has been in development for a while, promising a very in-depth MMO experience with combat, vehicle gameplay and even social elements. It's been sitting among the top entries of Steam's most wishlisted chart for nearly a year now, and originally it was set to release on June 21, 2022. However, in May, Fntastic, the developer of the game, and MYTONA, the publisher, made an announcement saying The Day Before will be switching to Unreal Engine 5 technology, and therefore they will be delaying the release to March 1, 2023.On the Discord server, a new update was released by Wholf, an employee of Fntastic responsible for community management and also the head moderator of the Discord server, making the promise that they will be showing new raw gameplay for The Day Before in January. The announcement also states that the gameplay will be showcasing the majority of the features and various elements their community has been requesting to see. It also promises it will provide "a clear glimpse into the current state of development for The Day Before." The reaction emojis underneath the announcement show plenty of people being very excited by this turn of events. However, Skill Up, who shared this update to the wider audience not being part of the Discord server, seemed to have a lot less enthusiastic approach.
Both Skill Up and other commenters underneath the post seemed skeptical with regard to the game sticking to its promised release date in March, considering the release of new gameplay footage only six weeks before launch. Skill Up and others wondered whether The Day Before will release at all or whether the game even exists. The general mood of the comments are leaning more towards the negative side. Part of the negative comments seem to stem from an earlier controversy around Fntastic when it stated on its official website that it considers some team members as volunteers, sparking a debate around the issue of using free labor.
While a level of frustration can be understandable when it comes to delays in the release of a video game, allowing the developer to smooth out the issues with the extra time given seems like an overall positive outcome. Fntastic has chosen to upgrade the graphics of The Day Before, something that hardly seems like a surprise considering the game was already aiming high in that department after releasing 4K raytracing trailers. All players can do is wait and see what kind of final product The Day Before is going to be in March.
The Day Before is set to release on March 1 for PC with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.