After the scandalous release of The Day Before, Fntastic is back with a shocking move. The company announced a new game, Escape Factory, which will be funded via a Kickstarter campaign. The studio is asking for $15,567 to support the project, which they pitch as a multiplayer, physics-based escape game.
The developer took to their official X (formerly Twitter) account to say, “Everyone deserves a second chance. We deeply apologize to everyone for The Day Before and take full responsibility for what happened. Check out our plan, Fntastic 2.0, where we share how we’ll fix our past mistakes and are preparing to return better.”
For those unaware, The Day Before was first announced in January 2021 with a five-minute trailer. The trailer showed better graphics than what was seen in many games released that year and the open world felt full of content to explore.
Marketed as an ambitious MMO survival game, with developers saying it will have breakthrough mechanics and hyperrealism, it soon became a most-wishlisted game on Steam. However, after a murky development journey, the day of the release resulted in disgrace. The release date was delayed multiple times for quite a selection of disputable reasons, including a transfer to Unreal Engine 5, among others.
Furthermore, speculation around the game’s legitimacy grew when Fntastic faced backlash over its use of unpaid volunteers. The studio defended the practice in a statement, saying they considered all workers, paid or unpaid, as part of the team.
Nevertheless, all became crystal clear when The Day Before launched in early access in December 2023 to overwhelmingly negative reviews. Instead of a breakthrough zombie-survival MMO, gamers got a dull, empty shell of an extraction shooter. The entire thing turned into a cautionary tale in the gaming industry. Just four days after the December release, The Day Before was removed from sale, and the studio announced its closure by the end of 2023. The game servers shut down on January 22, 2024.
With that said, Fntastic is back with a redemption plan poised to bring back the trust of players worldwide. Their plan is based on crucial principles they will honor, including honesty, transparency, and professionalism. This one-page plan isn’t faith-restoring, and the entire Kickstarter campaign feels like another disaster, as gamers and publishers already are expressing their skepticism.
One fan in particular stated, “You really need to get sued. I cannot believe you have the audacity to ask for more money after you scammed people. LIKE WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU”, which only speaks of the distrust fans have for the studio.
The Kickstarter campaign that will launch Fntastic’s return asks $15,626 and at the time of this writing it has surpassed $11,000. The campaign has multiple tiers from as little as $3 to $12,000 that will give the backer a chance to meet the Fntastic team. Other tiers include a digital copy of the game when released at $20, and a collector’s edition that will set you back $200, among many other options.
Fntastic’s new project, Escape Factory, doesn’t have a release date, but a free playable demo is available through the game’s official Steam page. The teaser trailer for the game shows only seconds of particular levels eerily similar to Fall Guys, Among Us, and other similar games.
Nevertheless, Fntastic seems to be progressing with its Kickstarter campaign. This is just an initial funding. According to their page, The Day Before developer will launch the game after they secure $20,000, and the stretch goes above $700,000. Depending on the progress of the funding, Fntastic will be able to offer a Steam Deck version of the game, free DLCs, and even a Nintendo Switch version of the game, in addition to the native PC version.