Developer FNTASTIC's upcoming survival MMO, The Day Before, is one of the most anticipated games of 2021. Ever since the game was announced, fans have started drawing comparisons to The Last of Us and The Division on the grounds of similar mechanics.
It's refreshing to see comparisons not reducing any associated excitement or hype, but rather serve to give the game the proper recognition it deserves. Despite a bunch of information available on The Day Before, fans are worried that the game might not hit its scheduled release date, but that might just be fine in the long run.
The Day Before's Recent Silence
The Day Before was announced back in January this year, with a proper gameplay trailer that showcased a grueling post-apocalyptic world teeming with horrific zombies. The game had (and still has) a targeted release window of Q2 2021. Considering June has already arrived, that leaves developer FNTASTIC with just a couple of weeks to ship the game, which is sounding more unreasonable with every passing day.
The game's last proper gameplay reveal trailer went live in April, and mostly complete silence has ensued ever since. This doesn't entirely rule out the fact that The Day Before cannot still meet its vague release window, but a complete halt to creating hype before release does seem questionable. The Day Before's relatively short gap between its announcement and proposed release date seemed quite optimistic, but a delay wouldn't be surprising considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on game development. Right now, a delay seems inevitable, but that might just be a blessing in disguise.
Delivering On Fan Expectations of The Day Before
The Day Before has reached unprecedented amounts of hype and speculation from fans, despite the game not belonging to a particularly well-known developer. Comparisons to The Last of Us and The Division have served to expand the fandom more, to a degree even the developer might not have expected. However, a probable downside to such hype is higher expectations, which brings pressure to deliver on said hype.
It's possible that developer FNTASTIC felt it might be best to keep fans at bay for longer while they expand on the game's many ideas and polish existing ones to an immaculate degree. There's also the fact that The Day Before is an MMO, a genre that thrives on interesting content paired with addictive mechanics so players would want to invest in the game for a long time.
Even if that isn't the case, it's ultimately best to delay games if they're not ready. The Cyberpunk 2077 launch debacle is a prime example, one that has been brought up often regarding delays or crunch. Even after recouping development costs solely on pre-orders, the cost of fixing the game post-launch has had an indelible impact on CD Projekt Red. FNTASTIC isn't as popular or as big as CD Projekt Red, so taking a risk like that would definitely result in serious consequences. A delay for the betterment of the game is a win for everyone.
The Day Before is currently in development for PC, and it's set to release in Q2 2021.