The Day Before Was Going To Be Delayed Even Without The Trademark Dispute, Says Developer Fntastic

Following the news that post-apocalyptic zombie game The Day Before is receiving an eight-month delay, developer Fntastic has clarified that the delay was planned before the trademark dispute.

Yesterday, January 25, Fantastic released a statement announcing that its upcoming title had to be delayed due to a trademark issue. According to Fntastic, a private individual trademarked the name The Day Before in the US prior to the developer, leading to the game being blocked on Steam. According to a new statement from Fntastic provided to IGN, this delay was planned before the trademark dispute.

"We planned to move the game's release before and plan to announce it with [publisher] Mytona in a 10-minute gameplay video. And then you all know what happened. So to be on the safe side, to ensure there are no more transfers, we, along with the publisher, chose November 10. That is a safe date, given the trademark dispute." This is the second delay the game has received, the first being when it switched to Unreal Engine 5 last year.

In spite of the issues the game has faced, Fntastic is confident it can solve the trademark dispute in time for its new release date as it has "strong legal partners," also noting that the extra time for development will allow to "better prepare for the release" and make improvements to the game.

Fntastic also responded to some of the allegations that the game isn't actually in development, or that it's a scam, saying, "The storm will calm down eventually, and time will put everything in its place. When the game comes out, people will finally see the truth.

"We understand that some players, not seeing the whole picture, might have doubts about the game. Our whole focus has always been on the product itself. We’ve been creating the game for four years. All these years have been full of sweat and blood to make this game, and for many members of our team, it is unpleasant to hear such accusations."

Fntastic has experienced controversy at various points during the game's development, as it was pointed out that the team uses unpaid volunteers to help develop its games, though did promise to hire some of its volunteers, though didn't specify how many.