The Day Before, a zombie-shooting survival game, was ranked second globally on the Steam wishlist before its page vanished. The Day Before’s release date will now be postponed once more, according to developer Fntastic, even though the realistic-looking multiplayer game is still absent from Valve’s storefront. This is because, allegedly, someone else already holds the trademark for the game’s name.
The Day Before was originally slated to launch in March. A statement from Fntastic, however, says the game’s release is now postponed until November.
“Dear fans,” the developer writes. “Right before the release, Steam blocked our game page at the request of a private individual, because of the name The Day Before. As you know, our game was announced in January 2021. At the time of the announcement, The Day Before game trademark was available. After the announcement of the game, the above mentioned individual filled out an application before us to register the game trademark The Day Before in the United States.”
Fntastic then shares a link to the United States Patent and Trademark Office records, which shows a patent filed May 21, 2021 for ‘The Day Before.’ The final trademark is registered for November 1, 2022, and belongs to an individual named Sun Jae Lee, who according to documentation lives in Seoul, South Korea.
“Previously we were not aware of the existence of claims [sic],” Fntastic says. “We found out about this only on January 19, 2023, when we received a complaint from him and a request to contact him. Now we found out all the circumstances [sic] of the incident and we will definitely solve everything.”
Last week, after releasing several trailers since 2021 that seemed to show in-game footage of The Day Before, Fntastic said it was preparing to unveil “raw gameplay footage” of the survival shooter. The studio now says that this has been delayed, alongside the game’s full launch.
“We previously planned to post a lengthy gameplay video later this month, but we’ll have to sort this issue out first,” it says. “We will post a video ASAP.”
Fntastic then confirms that The Day Before is delayed until November 10, saying that “we want to ensure we release the best possible game.” As of this writing, The Day Before Steam’s page has not been restored.
Check out some of the other best upcoming games, if you want to fill the gap left by The Day Before. You might also fancy some other great multiplayer games, or maybe the best zombie games on PC.