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How The Day Before collapsed—and why fans want it back

A $200K launch turned into a refund nightmare, then a studio's sudden death. Could fan pressure resurrect The Day Before—or is this the end?

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2 min read
The image shows a paper with a drawing of a group of people and text that reads "The Lords Met for...
The image shows a paper with a drawing of a group of people and text that reads "The Lords Met for the Despatch of Business". The people in the drawing appear to be in a state of distress, with some of them looking up in fear and others looking down in confusion. The text on the paper implies that the people are struggling with a difficult situation, and the image conveys a sense of urgency and despair.

How The Day Before collapsed—and why fans want it back

The troubled survival game The Day Before has left a trail of controversy after its disastrous launch. Developed by Yakutsk-based studio FNTASTIC, the project collapsed within weeks, leading to the studio's closure in November 2023. Now, a petition urges publisher Mytona to revive the game, while former employees and analysts piece together what went wrong behind the scenes.

FNTASTIC, led by brothers Aisen and Eduard Gotovtsev, spent five years developing The Day Before. The game sold 200,000 copies at launch, but 90,000 were refunded—a commercial failure that triggered immediate fallout. Within days, the Gotovtsev brothers announced the studio's shutdown, leaving around 100 employees without jobs.

Former staff later revealed they had received compensation, including back pay, unused holiday leave, and up to two months' salary. Yet many claimed the brothers had mistreated the team, offering false promises before dismissals. Some employees alleged they were let go without proper severance, contradicting earlier reports. Analysts from the YouTube channel iXBT Games, Vitaly Kazunov and Mikhail Shkredov, examined the scandal and concluded the Gotovtsev brothers were likely not outright scammers. However, they warned others in the industry to avoid working with them, calling the pair *the last people you'd want to collaborate with*. Shkredov described the brothers as *arrogant upstarts* whose actions ruined careers and disrupted lives. Despite the backlash, a player-led petition has emerged, urging Mytona to take over development. Supporters want the game reworked with core survival mechanics and melee combat between players and zombies—features many felt were missing at launch.

The collapse of The Day Before has left questions about the Gotovtsev brothers' management and the game's future. While former employees received some financial settlement, the studio's closure marked the end of a five-year project. The petition's outcome remains uncertain, but the fallout has already reshaped perceptions of the developers behind one of gaming's most infamous failures.

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