The Day Before, an upcoming survival zombie indie game, has been delayed eight months past its initial release date, and fans are starting to doubt the developer’s intentions.
Many fans are pointing out information they consider red flags, deducing the game is in reality a scam, stealing money from unlucky investors.
The delay came as a surprise for fans, who were finally promised gameplay videos later this month and a release in less than two months. Now, it’s delayed until November and they have still yet to see any actual game footage.
“All they’re getting out of this is.. complete loss of credibility that will probably lead to them never being able to release a game ever again,” one fan wrote.
Expectations were high when the game was initially announced by Fntastic, even though the survival zombie genre is no longer all the rage
But since then eager fans have experienced disappointment after disappointment with the developer remaining silent on factual information about the game and its development stage.
Additionally, the reason for this gigantic delay wasn’t linked to the game’s development but due to a “trademark issue” which points to a lack of professionalism.
“Steam blocked our game page because of the name The Day Before,” the developer said in a press release, explaining the game’s trademark wasn’t available. “We previously planned to post a lengthy gameplay video… but we’ll have to sort this issue out first.”
The fact the gameplay video has been delayed is also suspicious, according to fans. Despite high expectations for this game, the public has yet to learn pretty much anything about the state of the game’s development.
Delays in the video games industry, and among indie developers in particular, are rampant. Legal oversights are also plausible. But the trademark issue is considered suspicious due to the delay, which is considered overly long for such a legal matter.
“Who announces a game without getting trademark? How many games have we heard rumors of via trademark years before announcement?” one user wrote on Twitter.
If the game has yet to reach a viable development stage, the developer could delay its release date while being transparent on the actual reason.
Now, many players don’t believe they’ll see the game actually release in the coming years at all. The developer has lost trust from a great part of the community, and a release date for the gameplay video has yet to be revealed.
