Fntastic Developer’s Response to Getting Exposed For Allegedly Flipping Unreal Engine Assets to Make The Day Before Sparks Controversy

The Day Before, a post-apocalyptic open world MMO game developed by Fntastic and published by MYTONA, was one of the most anticipated games of 2023. It promised to deliver a realistic and immersive survival experience in a vast and dangerous world, where players could explore, scavenge, fight, and cooperate with other survivors.

The game’s trailers and gameplay videos, which showcased impressive graphics and features, generated a lot of hype and excitement among gamers and critics alike. The game was also Steam’s most wishlisted game for several months, indicating a high demand and expectation from the audience.

How Social Media Discovered Fntastic Developers Were Allegedly Flipping Assets from the Unreal Engine Store to Create The Day Before

However, things took a drastic turn for the worse when the game was released, after being delayed several times. The game was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews from players and critics, who accused the developers of lying, deceiving, and scamming them.

The main complaint was that the game was nothing but a collection of cheap and poorly integrated assets from the Unreal Engine store, which the developers tried to pass off as their own original work. Many users provided evidence that most of the large cities and buildings in the game were allegedly mostly unchanged assets flipped from the store, and that the game lacked any originality, creativity, or polish.

Many users claim the city map in the The Day Before is actually $399 asset flipped from the Unreal Engine store called “American City Packs Bundle”, which was released in 2021. This also could potentially invalidate Fntastic’s claim that they have been developing the game for over 4 years, since the main city in game is allegedly an Unreal Engine asset released less than 4 years ago. However, it is still possible it was in development before that asset was released, and they just decided to use it along the way to cut corners.

Fntastic Developer Digs a Deeper Hole on Social Media Responding to The Day Before Asset Flipping Scandal

The situation got even worse when the developers responded to the criticism on Twitter, where they faced a backlash from angry and disappointed fans. One of the developers, who works for Fntastic, wrote “You Flipped the numbers. You can check this is entirely our work”, in response to a Twitter user who wrote, “Sell What? Other people’s work? It’s 98% assets from the UE store.” However, Twitter itself exposed the developer’s alleged lie by adding a caption that said “Readers added context. This was in fact entirely not their work”.

In another Twitter thread, a developer responded to all the criticism with a nonchalant message saying “This was our first big experience. S**t happens”, in response to a tweet from a disgruntled gamer who said, “Unbelievable that you guys hyped this game up so much, and this is the end result. You guys are an absolute disgrace to the video game industry”. Many people felt this showed that they are showing a lack of accountability.

Was The Day Before Removed From Steam After Fntastic Removed the Open World Tag?

Amidst the asset flipping scandal, The Day Before was taken down from Steam. If you got to the store page now, you cannot download and install the game. Also some gamers have reported receiving full refunds. In addition the it appears that Fntastic removed the “open world” tag from the game’s description as you’ll see below. The game’s official website and social media accounts are still active, and the discord is still up, but the future of this game seems non-existent now.

The Day Before is arguably one of the biggest blunders in gaming history, considering how much people were looking forward to the game, and how much the developers hyped it up. The game’s failure is a lesson for both developers and players, as it shows the importance of honesty, transparency, and quality in the gaming industry.

The game also raises questions about the ethics and legality of using assets from the Unreal Engine store, and whether such assets should be clearly disclosed and credited by the developers. The Day Before may have been a promising game, but it turned into a scandal that tarnished the reputation of the developers and the publisher, and disappointed millions of fans.