The Day Before was announced in January 2021 and immediately garnered a ton of interest from prospective fans. The idea of a game that mixes elements of The Division and The Last of Us in an open world was a project many people grew interested in. Despite all the interest in The Day Before, it has been relatively silent since that announcement. While the game has shown off some visuals and other tidbits, it hasn’t offered much substantial info.
Recently The Day Before’s Twitter \engaged in a virtual event build-up, posted a set of images to tease an announcement. The Day Before was believed to have some kind of showcase airing in September to satiate the appetite for information, but throughout September more teasers were posted for this possible event with nothing coming of it. Now October and its stacked video game releases have arrived, and while The Day Before's event seems to have been pushed to this month, there still appears to be nothing tangible fans can grasp.
The Day Before's Silence
The Day Before spent a lot of time being relatively silent before these teasers started going up, so keeping fans engaged should be a major focus for now. While it can be stressful to meet player expectations and set a release date if fans will have a long waitm letting them know sooner than later is ideal. It would be better for fans to see previews of the development process and know what is being done rather than just hoping that one day it will release.
This is especially important as another major zombie-killing game gets ready to release. Back 4 Blood will likely take the world by storm, and has already built up a solid playerbase through beta access. If The Day Before continues to be absent and vague on social media, it could become a diamond in the rough; lost to players because their focus shifted elsewhere.
At one point this approach was understandable, as major studios were working on titles that could be viewed as similar to The Day Before. Just like Back 4 Blood, Rainbow Six Extraction will be pitting players against zombified entities. By June 2021, many people were looking at a growing list of games that tried filling a similar niche, albeit in their own ways. Now, Back 4 Blood looks to be standing alone after Rainbow Six Extraction was delayed as The Day Before maintained radio silence for much of the summer.
While it isn’t realistic to expect a release date this year, The Day Before could take advantage of a Halloween event like Fortnite has in the past. While other horror games release in the current market, The Day Before could work on building its fanbase more and get people excited for the future, with a showcase this month being a prime avenue for it.
Alternative Storytelling
The Day Before hit the ground running with some impressive gameplay trailers, but its absence of late means it isn’t reaching as many people. Missing events - even if they set no concrete date in the first place - doesn’t bode well. While the video teasers being released help set a tone for the game, The Day Before’s "Mega Event" won't pack as much of a punch without more concrete information behind it.
Because 2021 has been a great year for horror games, rushing doesn’t seem necessary, but that doesn’t mean nothing should be done. One great aspect of the Internet age is fans being able to interact across multiple platforms. For them to do this, and to pull more prospective fans into the fold, there needs to be a greater presence from The Day Before. This could mean more social media engagement or releasing developer diaries so fans can feel up-to-date on the game.
That said, it's possible the vagueness and current marketing silence are intentional. While trolling fans isn’t always the best move, vague interactions aren’t necessarily new to gaming. There may be some folks that rage online, but in the past big games like Red Dead Redemption 2 have also used a vague approach before major announcements.
This approach could be seen as questionable by some fans, but it isn’t an invalid way to keep people engaged. Moving forward it might turn out that the teaser shorts debut an entire story. If they become regular installments like the lore videos for Overwatch, fans could begin to see the world of The Day Before being built right in front of their eyes.
If the teasers act as a prequel to the game, setting up its story ahead of time rather than using an early-game mission like in The Last of Us, The Day Before could jump right into the action. The current approach could become an interesting way to market the game. It isn’t ideal to see The Day Before relatively absent online, but that won't necessarily lead to bad news either. Right now, finding a balanced way to interact with fans while leaving an air of mystery around The Day Before's world should be its main focus.
The Day Before is scheduled to release on PC in 2021.