The Day Before is an ambitious upcoming survival MMO from developer Fntastic that has quickly become one of the most anticipated new games for 2023. Set in post-pandemic America, the open-world we’ll be exploring is said to be overrun by zombie-like infected inhabitants who have a taste for flesh. But that’s not the only threat we’ll have to contend with – other survivors are willing to kill for valuable resources in the name of survival. First announced in 2021, The Day Before continues to top the most wishlisted games on Steam (opens in new tab) – ranking higher than Starfield and Hollow Knight: Silksong, and second only to Hogwarts Legacy.
With a lot of excitement surrounding this new MMO, and with The Day Before release date just around the corner, it’s certainly hard to ignore the fact that there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding one of the most intriguing upcoming PC games. Still, you’ll want to read on as we take you through everything we know so far about The Day Before, from gameplay details to platforms and more.
The Day Before release date
The Day Before release date is currently set for March 1, 2023. This date comes after the game was initially pushed back from its original June 2022 window last year, following the decision to shift developer to Unreal Engine 5.
The Day Before platforms
The upcoming MMO is currently set to land on PC at launch, with Fntastic also confirming that it is looking at the possibility of The Day Before Xbox Series X/S and PS5 releases. It’s not yet clear when console versions will be ready.
The Day Before Unreal Engine 5
The delayed release of The Day Before came as a result of the decision to move the development of the project onto Unreal Engine 5. In a statement to IGN (opens in new tab), Fntastic stated that the move to the “more advanced and adapted open worlds engine will make the gameplay of The Day Before even more fantastic”. As we’ve seen from other upcoming Unreal Engine 5 games, the latest engine from Epic is able to deliver an incredibly realistic level of detail that really makes the most of new-gen technology. The environments we’ve seen glimpses of so far already look impressive, but The Day Before’s world will undoubtedly benefit from the move – here’s hoping it adds to the level of immersion as we scavenge locations.
The Day Before Trailer
The first initial reveal trailer for The Day Before dropped back in 2021, giving us our first look at a gameplay demo of the MMO. With a guided tour of some locations complete with narration, we got to see some scavenging – including looting a cowboy hat – some gunfights against the infected, and some PvP action for good measure, it instantly gave us Last of Us meets The Division vibes at first glance. The script of the trailer certainly made it a memorable one to say the least. Following on from the debut showcase of the game, a more recent trailer also landed that showed off some of the environments of the post-pandemic setting with ray-tracing.
The Day Before gameplay
While we’ve gotten to see glimpses of the game in trailers, our first look at gameplay footage came in a video from IGN back in 2021 (opens in new tab). The footage shows two players scavenging around for supplies in a gas station and taking out infected foes nearby with their guns. The footage offers some insight into the inventory and how we’ll be able to loot – which does bring to mind State of Decay in some respects. With the release date just a matter of months away, we’ve still not seen all that much of the game in action, especially since the move to Unreal Engine 5.
Interestingly, The Day Before’s developer announced on its Discord channel via YouTuber Skill Up (opens in new tab) that “raw gameplay footage” is due to land sometime in January just six weeks before its due to launch. Hopefully this will offer more insight and a proper look into how the MMO plays out in the post-pandemic setting.
The Day Before controversy
With a growing sense of anticipation surrounding the MMO since its reveal in 2021, there has been some scepticism and controversy surfacing about The Day Before. Some controversy surfaced shortly after the news of a delay, when the studio appeared to be looking for “volunteers” to help with its upcoming projects (although it’s clear as to whether this was related to The Day Before, specifically). The biggest sticking point was the website’s description of part-time volunteers “ranging from translating to community moderating” who receive non-monetary rewards such as “participation certificates and free codes”.
The scepticism on the other hand, is largely due to the fact that we haven’t really seen all that much gameplay or had substantial information about the game, which has only intensified as we draw closer to the release date. The most recent video which showed off ray-tracing didn’t show any gameplay footage, and fans appear to remain quite sceptical on whether The Day Before can deliver on its promises
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