The Day Before studio simultaneously scraps failed Kickstarter and announces yet another game instead
The Day Before developer Fntastic has called it a day on the Kickstarter it hoped would secure funding for Escape Factory, a physics-based multiplayer co-op escape game.
In a post shared on social media platform X, the studio said the project had not “generated enough interest” and was “unlikely” to reach the goal initially set out. As such, Fntastic has decided to postpone work on Escape Factory and cancel the Kickstarter. No funds have been collected, it said.
But, don’t go thinking the developer is actually going to call it a day. Rather, in announcing the end of one game, it has also announced the start of another one: an “action-horror prop hunt” game called Items.
Yes, in that very same post where Fntastic admitted there simply isn’t enough interest in its Factory game, it said the community had been asking for a prop hunt game, so that is what it is going to do now.
Fntastic added the development of Items will “require significant resources”, and therefore the team has “decided to release mobile games in parallel to support the process”. It also suggested another Kickstarter could be on the cards further down the line, stating it is “important to us that our players get the chance to play and test the game in advance” of a release.
In response to one less than convinced social media follower who scoffed at the developer’s ongoing attempt to win back some favour, Fntastic said: “We know our decisions and projects might not be for everyone, but we’re working hard to create a game that our supporters will like and enjoy.”
It is fair to say that Fntastic does not have a good track record when it comes to releasing games. It finally released The Day Before back in December last year, after a rocky road to release which included delays, the developer being forced to state its game wasn’t a scam, and criticism for its use of unpaid volunteers. It even got tied up in a bizarre trademark dispute with a calendar app also called The Day Before.
However, in the end, The Day Before didn’t last long. Its debut was a mess, and the studio shut down a mere matter of days after the game’s release, with players’ receiving refunds for the product. Fantastic announced its ‘comeback’ last month, with an attempt to refresh itself with a ‘Fntastic 2.0’ push.