Background and Launch of ‘The Day Before’
The game The Day Before has had a tumultuous journey leading up to its release. Initially touted as an open-world survival MMO, it garnered a mix of excitement and doubt from the gaming community. There were even moments when its very existence was questioned. However, after overcoming a significant delay due to a trademark dispute, the game finally made its way to Steam’s early access, confirming its reality to the skeptics.
Despite the anticipation, the game’s launch was met with challenges. The developer, known for their fervent and defensive promotion of the game, faced a critical moment as players’ expectations of an expansive MMO experience were not met upon release.
Steam Launch Reception
The initial reception of The Day Before on Steam was far from positive. Players quickly voiced their dissatisfaction, leading to an “Overwhelmingly Negative” consensus in Steam reviews. The core of the complaints centered around the game’s failure to deliver the promised open-world MMO experience.
| Player Expectations | Reality |
|---|---|
| Expansive open-world survival | Limited area extraction shooter |
| MMO features and interactions | Lack of MMO elements |
Players who managed to access the game found that instead of an open-world survival game, they were playing an extraction shooter, which many felt was subpar. The disappointment was palpable, with players expressing their grievances about the misleading description of the game.
Gameplay and Genre Discrepancy
The gameplay mechanics of The Day Before have led to a significant discrepancy between what was advertised and what players experienced. The game was expected to be an open-world MMO, but instead, it presented mechanics more akin to an extraction shooter.
- Players drop into a map to loot and shoot.
- There is no match timer, allowing extended play in the open world.
- Extraction to a hub with vendors and quests is a core mechanic.
This structure deviates from traditional open-world MMOs, where players expect a seamless, expansive world with a high level of interactivity and persistent elements. The absence of these features in The Day Before has led to the genre discrepancy issue, with players feeling misled by the game’s marketing.
Developer’s Response to Backlash
In response to the backlash from players, the developers of The Day Before took the step of temporarily closing the official Discord server. This decision was made to mitigate the “overwhelming toxicity” that the team felt unable to manage effectively. Additionally, the developers wanted to ensure that bug reports were being channeled directly to the development team, which was difficult with the server open.
After a few hours, access to the Discord server was reinstated, but with certain restrictions in place. Slowmode was activated, limiting users to posting one message every two hours, to prevent spam and maintain order on the server.
Server Issues During Launch
The launch of The Day Before was further complicated by server issues that frustrated many players. The game lacked a server queue system, which is a standard feature in many online games to manage player access during high traffic periods. This oversight meant that players were left to continuously refresh and attempt to join servers, hoping to secure a spot in a game that was already marked as having a “high” population or was completely “full”.
The limited number of servers available for regions like North America, Europe, and Asia only exacerbated the problem. Without the ability to see the exact number of players connected, users found themselves in a loop of trial and error, trying to join any server with available space.
Comparison with Another Survival Game Launch
On the same day as The Day Before faced its tumultuous launch, another survival game made its debut to a significantly more positive reception. This game, a mode within the popular Fortnite franchise, introduced a Lego-themed survival experience that quickly captivated millions of concurrent players.
Unlike The Day Before, this new addition to Fortnite featured 8-player co-op, a tech tree, and persistent servers, which contributed to its immediate success and widespread player engagement. The depth of the game mode, especially for being technically just a part of Fortnite, was a pleasant surprise to the gaming community.
