The Day Before Devs Return With 'Fntastic 2.0' and a New Kickstarter Campaign

I bet you didn’t see this coming.

In December 2023, The Day Before, a long-awaited, highly anticipated survival shooter, was released by Fntastic after years of development. It quickly turned out to be nothing short of a scam, with the game launching in a miserable state, after which Fntastic pulled it offline and shut down the studio.

Now, almost a year since the studio disappeared, the team is back with ‘Fntastic 2.0’.

Before we get started, let’s highlight that this is the same developer who said ‘shit happens’ on social media when their game was taken offline.

Guess Who’s Back?

In a shocking post on social media, the Fntastic team returned, stating that ‘everyone deserves a second chance’. They posted a link to a new game called ‘Escape Factory’ and stressed that they’re planning to fix their past mistakes. By ‘past mistakes’, they mean the swindling of thousands of gamers that left them a laughingstock of the gaming community.

They’re back on the scene with a Kickstarter that they’re putting together to generate funds to make more games, including the one I’ve just named.

I’m not even kidding:

Regaining trust will be tough, but we're motivated to make more games if our Kickstarter succeeds. With its 'all or nothing' model, contributions will be refunded if we miss the target. We value your support, and all funds will go to development, not profit.
— Fntastic (@FntasticHQ) September 26, 2024

At the time of writing, the Kickstarter has made a whopping £154 out of a goal of £11,646 (what a random number). If you back their campaign with a $12,000 donation, you’ll get an ‘unforgettable dinner’ with the founders of Fntastic.

This is the most laughable thing I’ve seen in years. They’re actually saying that they need the community’s help if they’re going to revive Fntastic, and they even published a whitepaper outlining their desire to change. They’ve ‘rebranded’ by changing the colour palette of their logo, and they’re now preaching honesty, transparency, and professionalism.

They also have a new mission!

Our mission is to create games that will be loved for decades.

This is brilliant.

Here’s the spiel for their new game, too:

You play as life-weary workers trying to escape the vicious cycle of deadly factories from which there’s no easy way out. Legend has it that only one great and mysterious individual has ever escaped.

Team up with 4-8 players for pure multiplayer co-op physics-based fun challenges.

If they raise $200,000, they’ll make the game and bring it to all platforms. I can’t see them making 1% of that, but shall we see how far they’re willing to take this?

If you’re going to put your trust in Fntastic 2.0, let us know on the Insider Gaming forum.

For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Bethesda is adding pets to Fallout 76