The Day Before developer Fntastic published a vlog today to discuss their development process since work began back in 2019. But will it begin to reassure the skeptics about the zombie MMO?
The video was announced with a countdown, before premiering a video consisting of an introduction to development on the game and what changes they’ve made since then. The video was accompanied by a series of short clips showing some of the design changes, with narration over the clips about the process from then until now.
The descriptions were all about how things changed, from graphics, including comparison of the zombies, and how they started with a more cartoonish world, and refined things over time. Initially, the post-apocalyptic zombie themed game was set in a snowy, frozen landscape, but things were adjusted as they got a better idea of their concept. The things that have changed the most are visual, and there were some of those examples shown.
Through the overall narration, from Fntastic communications team member Dana Soltangazinova, we learn about the company’s smaller origins through the original announcement and attention that made The Day Before a heavily wishlisted game on Steam. Part of the story about the company’s growth also included a line about Fntastic’s culture of volunteering, which did nothing to clear up the ongoing controversy over the potential use of unpaid labor to complete the work. The team had previously made statements saying that there were both paid employees and volunteers.
Still, with the number of quickly cut shorter clips, mostly showing off visual changes, there’s still plenty of room left to criticize the lack of gameplay videos. Showing off some longer gameplay videos and interaction within the world might cover some distance in reassuring some that The Day Before might just make its restated (delayed) November 10th release date.
There’s no word on when we might see another statement or announcement about The Day Before, but it’s clear that they’re trying to get out from under the controversy and skepticism. Yet it doesn’t seem, from the reaction to the video, or recent happenings, that that has happened just yet.
