We thought that Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was bad, but The Day Before has beat them hands down, with its servers being shut down for good under two months since its launch.
It’s like a car crash you don’t want to watch but you do all the same because you can’t look away. Everyone is talking about Palworld right now, with a lot of focus on whether they have or haven’t ripped off a certain Nintendo franchise, but The Days Before was the controversy that dominated December last year.
Remember when we all saw the Days Gone gameplay and were intrigued? Yeah, us neither.
Cast your minds back to December: The Days Before had just launched and, within a matter of days, was pulled from sale on Steam. As far as the worst game of 2023 goes, this one takes the top spot.
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It was only a matter of time before the servers were shut down permanently, with that day having now arrived, only 46 days after the game’s Steam release. In an official statement shared on social media, the devs not only announced the closure of the servers but also of Fntastic Studio as well.
“Unfortunately, The Days Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners.” The statement continues, “We invested all our efforts, resources, and man-hours into the development of The Days Before, which was our first huge game [...] but unfortunately, we don’t have the funding to continue the work.”
Arguably, there’s no surprise that it ended this way. From the beginning, The Days Before was dogged by issues, namely over plagiarisation accusations. Then, upon release, it didn’t take long for players to realise that what they’d been told didn’t match the game they were playing. All of which was compounded by volunteer devs revealing that everything about the game was a lie.
We doubt anyone will be sad to see the servers shut down. Still, it’s a memorable day in video game history, with The Days Before now taking the crown of the worst game launch ever.
Featured Image Credit: FntasticTopics: PC, Steam, Unreal Engine