Is The Day Before a real game? “Fake” game rumors spread after bizarre delay

Brianna Reeves
the day before fake

After The Day Before’s delay over alleged trademark issues, many have begun to wonder if the game is possibly fake.

The Day Before’s reveal trailer in early 2021 took the internet by storm, with its Last of Us-like tone and MMO qualities instantly sparking online hype.

It later became one of Steam’s most wishlisted games, but even those most invested in its development grew wary over time.

Generic and heavily scripted gameplay trailers seemed fine initially. However, pundits and prospective players note that such content is all anyone’s seen of the MMO in action.

The latest development, or lack thereof, in The Day Before saga has some thinking it’s similar to PS5’s elusive Abandoned.

The Day Before’s recent delay sparks rumors that it’s fake

Earlier this week, The Day Before mysteriously vanished from Steam. Developer Fntastic said it merely constituted a “minor technical difficulty,” then later alleged that a copyright claim caused the removal.

Apparently, the copyright strike came as a result of the development house failing to secure The Day Before’s trademark. The title, consequently, suffered yet another long delay, meaning it’ll now launch on November 10, 2023.

But it seems few people actually believe it’ll hold firm to the new November date. In fact, many now believe the project doesn’t exist at all.

Popular content creator LegacyKillaHD wrote in response to the latest delay that “this game isn’t real, lmao.” The YouTuber pointed out the lack of real gameplay footage and the studio’s wide array of excuses. “Naaa, this just screams ‘Abandoned PS5’ scam all over again…”

Another Twitter user replied to the LegacyKillaHD thread, arguing: “From the jump the game was way too ambitious to be real. Especially with the size of the studio.”

What’s more, YouTuber Skill Up has shared a screenshot of a message from the game’s lead Discord mod, someone who recently teased an upcoming gameplay reveal. Evidently, the mod sits in the same boat as everyone else, wondering if The Day Before may be fake.

If The Day Before does represent another PS5 Abandoned-like situation, this may be a long con with no real ending in sight.