The Day Before joins Overwatch 2 as one of Steam's worst-reviewed games after players discover it's not an MMO at all

This year’s most infamous video game, The Day Before , will see a timely and expected end on January 22nd, 2024. 

What has been a bizarre development and release saga for The Day Before is coming to an end, after it has been announced by Mytona that the game will shutdown on January 22nd. The Day Before was billed as an open world survival MMO, but the actual released game was far from what was expected, receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews. The game was released on December 7th, yet a few days later developer Fntastic closed its doors.

The Day Before will be shutting down in January, less than two months after its disastrous launch.

The Day Before, once Steam’s most wishlisted game before experiencing a bizarre journey through multiple delays, accusations of being a scam, apparent legal disputes and a catastrophic Early Access launch, will shut down its servers in one month. The effective end to the game will accompany refunds for anyone who brought it on Steam.

The Day Before, one of the most controversial and catastrophic games in recent memory, will have its servers shut down in January 2024, just 45 days after the game launched in Early Access.

Considering all the controversy surrounding zombie shooter The Day Before, it should be no surprise that the game has earned a certain level of notoriety. As caught by Kotaku, while the game is no longer available to purchase on Steam, those curious about the title can buy Steam keys for The Day Before from unauthorised third-party resellers.

Update — Publisher Mytona has posted an update on The Day Before situation, pledging to work with Steam to open up refunds to any players who choose to do so.

The strange situation that is The Day Before keeps getting stranger.

The Day Before, once Steam's most wish-listed open-world survival MMO, has been delisted from Valve's platform. The game launched in early access to an almost immediate flood of negative reviews last week, with most players claiming that it wasn't really an MMO but an extraction shooter reminiscent of Escape from Tarkov, combined with the post-apocalyptic threats of The Last of Us. The misleading gameplay claims were made worse by several game-breaking glitches that caused characters to clip off from the map, an incomplete and sparse world devoid of action, and inconsistent online features. Merely five days after release, the game is no longer available to buy on Steam and Fntastic, the studio behind the game, has announced it is shutting down and working on refunds for customers who bought the game.

After years of delays, overpromising, obfuscated skepticism, and a healthy dose of all around skepticism within the community, The Day Before finally launched in early access last week, and instantly, the game was met with widespread negative reception from players. Things only got worse from there, because just four days after the game’s release, developer Fntastic announced in a statement that the game had failed financially, and that the studio was, as such, shutting down.

Editor’s Note: Faster than we could publish our early access review, the developer announced it was shutting down and The Day Before was removed from sale . The servers remain up for those who have bought it and not yet refunded, but since our reviewer went to the trouble of playing it, it seems only right that you should get to read what he thought of the experience while it lasted.

Fntastic is shutting down. This comes just days after the launch of its most recent game, The Day Before, which has been met with overwhelmingly negative reviews from fans and critics alike.