1 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts. And how the 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: tech are yet? So I thought we would talk today 5 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: about the day before, and I don't mean Sunday. So 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, an obscure game developer company called Fantastic, 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: a company that ditched the first A in Fantastic for 8 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: its name, launched a trailer for an upcoming video game. 9 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: The trailer showed third person over the shoulder scenes of 10 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: characters navigating desolate landscapes, flavor text on newspapers indicating the 11 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: deadly pandemic had spanned the world, and scenes of zombie 12 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: like people bearing down on the characters, and a voiceover 13 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: called the game an open world, multiplayer survival game. The 14 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: trailer claimed to feature gameplay footage as two characters scavenge 15 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: for supplies, receive a radio invitation to join a survivor colony, 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: and of course, fight off zombies and rogue player groups. 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: It also showed off crafting, dynamic weather events, and more. 18 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: Other trailers would show off players seemingly teaming up to 19 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: explore dynamic and interesting environments, including abandoned but still surprisingly 20 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,759 Speaker 1: very well lit shopping malls, or another trailer showed off 21 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: what the outskirts of the city looked like, complete with 22 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: woodlands and the occasional vehicle containing a little zombie surprise 23 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: in it. The implication was that this was a massively 24 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: multiplayer online survival horror game, and it was called The 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: Day Before, and gamers took notice. In fact, at one point, 26 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: The Day Before ranked number one on Steam wish lists. 27 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: That is, if you have a Steam account, the online 28 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: video games store platform Steam, well, you can designate titles 29 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: to be on your wish list, and then that helps 30 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: you keep an eye on when those games come out, 31 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: or if they go on sale or release new content, 32 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: or you can just let folks know that if they 33 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: want to get you something, well, the games on your 34 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: wish list are a decent option. So anticipation was running 35 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: really high. It looked like The Day Before was going 36 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: to bring together elements found in lots of other games, 37 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: such as Seven Days to Die, Day, z GTA Online, 38 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: Escape from Tarkov, and lots more. While lots of games 39 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: had some elements of what appeared to already be in 40 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: the day before. This looked like one of those rare 41 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: combos that just matched a bunch of complimentary pieces together 42 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: to make something new, kind of like when you get 43 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 1: peanut butter on your chocolate. Jump ahead a couple of 44 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: years and then a few more delays. The game actually 45 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: came out this year, just a couple of weeks ago. 46 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: In fact, launched in early access through the Steam Store 47 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: on December seventh, twenty twenty three, and four days later, Fantastic, 48 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: the video game studio that made the day before, announced 49 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: it was shutting down, and gamers were flooding Steam with 50 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: overwhelmingly negative reviews for the day before. The general consensus 51 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: was that the game that Fantastic delivered was a far 52 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: cry from what it had promised. So today I thought 53 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: we'd talk a bit about where Fantastic came from, what 54 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: has happened to it, and why gamers were so upset 55 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: about the day before. So our story begins actually with 56 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: the predecessor to Fantastic. Before choosing that name, a group 57 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: of developers who would go on to become Fantastic, at 58 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: least some of them, formed a company called eight Points. 59 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: They started their company in Siberia, Russia. According to a 60 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: Kickstarter post they made more about that in a second. 61 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: They were quote all from different studios where many of 62 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: us had been working on cash games. We quickly realized 63 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: our passion was not with casual titles, but for deeply 64 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: immersive experiences end quote. Now among the members of eight 65 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: Points was lead developer Edward Gotoftsev, a name that is 66 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: going to trip me up over and over again, and 67 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: his brother Eisen will also be very important later on 68 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: in this story. So for the first project of eight Points, 69 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: the group decided on a quote plot driven survival co 70 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: op game end quote, and they called it The Wild Eight. 71 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: The premise was that a group of eight survivors of 72 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: a plane crash have to work together to survive in 73 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: a harsh, cold environment, not that much different from the 74 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: frozen tundra of Siberia, it would turn out. But plot twist, 75 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: one of the survivors gets tagged to be a quote 76 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 1: unquote psycho and is actively attempting to sabotage the team's efforts. 77 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: So there's some hidden identity elements to this game as well. 78 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: So the kickstary campaign laid out some interesting features. You know, 79 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: death was nearly certain as the environmental dangers ranged from 80 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: freezing to death to being attacked by wolves and bears 81 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: and maybe some less natural kind of critters. Characters could 82 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: be revived, but with the psycho element in the game, 83 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: there would always be the question of whether it might 84 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: be better if you left a character to stay dead 85 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: because maybe that character was the psycho. It was a 86 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: neat idea. The team was asking for fifty thousand dollars 87 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: to complete the game, noting that all of the team 88 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: had really sacrificed much of their own money to work 89 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: on this project. This was in twenty fifteen, and they 90 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: said they were aiming for a late twenty sixteen release. 91 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: Backers actually on two hundred and fifty seven backers helped 92 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: the team meet their goal, funding the kickstarter with fifty 93 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: nine thousand, six hundred and forty four dollars worth of pledges. Now, 94 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 1: the team finished the game, but it took a little 95 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: bit longer than what they wanted, just a little bit. 96 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,799 Speaker 1: The game actually launched an early access in February twenty seventeen, 97 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: so it wasn't finished yet, but it was in early access. 98 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: All was not well within eight points, however, there was 99 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: some sort of internal disagreement among the group. I have 100 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: never been able to see what that actually was. I 101 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: did a lot of digging to see if there was 102 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 1: any more detail on this, but there wasn't. But ultimately 103 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: there was a schism within eight Points, and so eight 104 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: Points sold the Wild eight to a publisher called hype 105 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: Train Digital, and at least some of the folks from 106 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: eight Points, including Edward, would leave to form a new 107 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: company that would become Fantastic. As for the Wild Eight, 108 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: that game would continue to go through development. It would 109 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: launch in final form in twenty nineteen, and recently hype 110 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: Train changed the name of the developer because it had 111 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: been saying Fantastic, they changed it to eight point or 112 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: eight Points, back to the original name of the developer 113 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: group because of the fallout that is going on with 114 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: the day before. So Edward names himself CEO of this 115 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,239 Speaker 1: new company. His brother Eisen comes on as a co founder. 116 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: Both of them reportedly put in around fifty thousand dollars 117 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: of their own money into the company as capital. That's 118 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: actually in Singapore dollars, I should add, because they based 119 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 1: the company in Singapore at least in name, and a 120 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: Singapore dollar is worth about seventy five cents American Now. 121 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: According to former employees, the company didn't actually maintain a 122 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: physical office space. They did use a co op space 123 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: as a sort of virtual office, but they didn't really 124 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: maintain a real world brick and mortar office within Singapore. 125 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: They did produce a few actual game titles. They made 126 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: a first person shooter survival horror game called Dead Dozen Again, 127 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: with a mechanic for players to turn against each other. 128 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: One player would be playing a zombie like ghoul, and 129 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: if you succeeded in killing another player, they would then 130 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: become a ghoul, so it became kind of a last 131 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: man's standing sort of game. They made an adventure game 132 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: called Radiant One that showed the studio's more artistic side, 133 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: and they made an asymmetric multiplayer game called prop Night, 134 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: in which one player takes on the role of a 135 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: hunter killer type and all the other players attempt to 136 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: hide within an environment by disguising themselves as common inanimate objects, 137 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: and then when they are relatively safe, they tried to 138 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: repair some stations to allow them to escape, kind of 139 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: a prop hunt slash Dead by Daylight mash up here. 140 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: This s dollar game was made popular from a Gary's 141 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: mod game that was being prop Hunt that came out 142 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: several years earlier. In twenty twenty one, the year the 143 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: studio released prop Night, they also unveiled a trailer for 144 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: their new game. The trailer referenced it as the open world, 145 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: multiplayer survival game, and in this game, like I said, Appendem, 146 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,319 Speaker 1: had wiped out most of the world's populations, leaving cities 147 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,839 Speaker 1: empty of everyone but a few survivors and occasionally an 148 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: infected person who's more or less a zombie. The trailer 149 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: and others that would follow gave gamers the impression that 150 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: it was set in a persistent online world, that it 151 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: would bring together elements of massively multiplayer online games, survival, 152 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: horror games, crafting and base building games, et cetera. While 153 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: there was some initial skepticism about whether or not this 154 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: small and still relatively unknown studio could achieve this massive project, 155 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: some folks were actually starting to get excited, and that 156 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: was what was leading to more and more people adding 157 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: this title onto their Steam wish lists. It became the 158 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: number one wish listed game on the platform in October 159 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. Fantastic said the game would be out 160 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: by June twenty first, two thousand two, some more trailers 161 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: would come out proclaiming even more amazing features that the 162 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: game would have, and then the studio kind of went quiet. 163 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: And that was already starting to worry people, right, like 164 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: the hype machine was an overdrive, and then things went 165 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: to radio silence. When we come back, I'll talk about 166 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: what happened. Okay, So, as I mentioned before the break, 167 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: we had Fantastic going to radio silence in the months 168 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: leading up to what was supposed to be the release. 169 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: But in May twenty twenty two, which was just a 170 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: month before it was supposed to come out. Remember, originally 171 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: the publication date was supposed to be June twenty first, 172 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, May twenty twenty two, Fantastic issues a 173 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: statement saying the game would be delayed by at least 174 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: eight months. The reason for the del according to the company, 175 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: was that the team decided on using a different game engine. 176 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: And yeah, that would definitely set you back a lot, 177 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: asked the folks who worked on Duke Nukem Forever, another 178 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 1: game that was in development for ages. So the move 179 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: to a new engine struck more than a few people 180 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: as a questionable decision. It's not like you can just 181 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: lift all your assets that you built for your starting 182 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: game engine and then just port them to another one seamlessly. 183 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: So this is where some folks were really starting to 184 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: smell or aunt. Then we got another big reveal, one 185 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: that I think would have totally made me rage out 186 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: had I been following this story at the time. In 187 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: June twenty twenty two, around the time that it was 188 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,439 Speaker 1: originally supposed to launch, word got out that Fantastic depends 189 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: at least in part on volunteer labor. So they had 190 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: a distinction between full time volunteers whom they say they 191 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: were paid, which to just sounds like an employee, and 192 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: part time volunteers who were not people who would work 193 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: without being paid for it. They might receive some other 194 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: form of compensation. The company appeared to be targeting fans 195 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: who had some developer skills to work with them in 196 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 1: return for stuff like game codes for example. So yeah, 197 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: you wouldn't need to buy a copy of the game. 198 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: You just have to work on developing the game for free, 199 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: and then you get hooked up. Others might do work 200 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: for exposure. This is where I remind you you cannot 201 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: make a living from exposure, but you sure can die 202 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: from it. Fantastic later said that volunteers weren't responsible for 203 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,719 Speaker 1: coding or anything like that. Instead, they were doing other 204 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: jobs like community management or working on localization, you know 205 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: where you're trying to craft the game so that it 206 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,319 Speaker 1: is understandable and playable for people in different regions of 207 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: the world. Meanwhile, more delays were around the corner. In 208 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: January twenty twenty three, Fantastic announced that there was an issue. 209 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 1: Apparently a calendar app also called the day before, objected 210 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,559 Speaker 1: to the video games title, and so the companies needed 211 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 1: to work out a solution. The release date was moved 212 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: from March first, twenty twenty three, to November tenth. It 213 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: would actually release into early access on December seventh. Now, 214 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: the two brothers told IGN that the IP dispute was 215 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: just a complication and that the studio had actually already 216 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: decided to delay the game. So this seemed to contradict 217 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: what they had just said, and the dispute apparently just 218 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: coincided with the company's plan to announce the delay. So 219 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:41,359 Speaker 1: again it appeared that there was some contradictions in communications 220 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: to the public, and that was exacerbating concerns about the 221 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: game at this point. Now there's another party involved in 222 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:50,719 Speaker 1: this that we have to talk about. There is a 223 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: video game publisher called Mytona. Like Fantastics predecessor, Mytona is 224 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,600 Speaker 1: a company that's from Siberia, Russia. Also, coincidentally, it was 225 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: co founded by brothers, different set of brothers. These are 226 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: twin brothers who co founded my Tona. Apparently my Tona 227 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: had invested in development of the Day Before. This is 228 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: not unusual, you know, publishers will invest money to help 229 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: fund the creation or development of a game. But I 230 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: bet these days that my Tona really wishes it hadn't 231 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: done that. Anyway, the repeated delays were making gamers increasingly uneasy. 232 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: Some had been referring to the Day Before as a 233 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: scam for a few months at this point. That was 234 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: an accusation that the brothers denied. They also said that 235 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: it wasn't just an asset flip. That's when you get 236 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: a bunch of pre existing assets and then you just 237 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: sort of cobbled together a game from them. The brothers 238 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: were saying, no, that's not you don't understand how much 239 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: work is being done on this title. That is not 240 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: an accurate portrayal of what this is. An official statement 241 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: from Fantastic said the game had been development for four years. 242 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 1: That's something that some people began to question because again, 243 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: a lot of what the trailers were showing were things 244 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: that look like assets that had been built for the 245 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: Unreal Engine but hadn't existed for more than a year 246 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: and a half or so. So there were questions about 247 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: how could this game have been in development that long 248 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: when the stuff that you're showing off hasn't even existed 249 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: for four years. Now, at this stage, some gamers were 250 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: taking a closer look at the stuff Fantastic put out 251 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 1: in trailers. They did point out similarities between the game 252 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: and various asset packs that are up for purchase as 253 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: part of the Unreal Engine. And I've talked a bit 254 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: about asset packs. Let me explain what those are. This 255 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: is stuff that has already been built on top of 256 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: a game engine. Some developers have already created these assets 257 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: that you can purchase and then incorporate into your own project. 258 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: And these aren't necessarily just visual assets. A lot of 259 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: them are a lot of them are things that are 260 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: you know, like objects or structures that have both the 261 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: visual element and the geometry right, like a house with 262 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: multiple floors, you have to program all that in well packs, 263 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: you could purchase these things and incorporate them into your 264 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: game and with some tweaking, make it all work. It's 265 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: not like it's plug and play. It's not that simple. Actually, 266 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: it does require quite a bit of work to get 267 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: an asset to work within the world of your game, 268 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: so I don't want to dismiss that. But it also 269 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: means that you don't have to do everything from scratch, right, 270 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: You don't have to build every single element in your 271 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: game by hand, because you can actually purchase stuff that's 272 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: already been made, and that can really help. However, some 273 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: gamers also began to say that the Day Before was 274 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: going beyond this and actually copying not just assets, but 275 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: like existing game trailers in order to make their own trailers. 276 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: They said that there were elements in game trailers for 277 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: the Day Before that were directly lifting from a trailer 278 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: for Grand Theft, Auto five or Call of Duty, Black 279 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: Ops Cold War. So those questions were starting to get 280 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: more heated as well were really starting to look grim. 281 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,439 Speaker 1: But on December seventh, twenty twenty three, Fantastic did release 282 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: the day before in early access for thirty nine dollars 283 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: and sold around two hundred thousand copies of it, with 284 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: a statement saying that the studio hoped to emerge from 285 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: early access within six to eight months to be a 286 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: fully released game, whereupon it would cost forty nine dollars, 287 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: so you know, buying an early access safety ten bucks. 288 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: And it turns out none of that would be relevant. 289 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: It was all moot. It would never get the chance 290 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: to go to full release because right away gamers began 291 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: to film their gameplay sessions and compare their sessions against 292 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: the trailers to show the disparity between the actual experience 293 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: of playing the game versus the game that was being 294 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,679 Speaker 1: showed off in trailers for a couple of years at 295 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: that point. They also complained that it was really hard 296 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 1: to get a gaming session going because the servers could 297 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 1: only hold around a one hundred people per server, and 298 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 1: they filled up really fast. I mean, you sold two 299 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,360 Speaker 1: hundred thousand copies super fast, so that requires a lot 300 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: of servers for you to be able to actually facilitate gameplay. 301 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: Then you had the really problematic issue where gamers found 302 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: out that the day before was not an MMO survival 303 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: horror game at all. Instead, it really belonged to a 304 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: different kind of genre called an extraction shooter. So in 305 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: an extraction shooter, gamers enter into an online map and 306 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: they're only in it for a certain amount of time. 307 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: And while they're in this online map, they do their 308 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: best to collect resources and to complete certain objectives, and 309 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 1: then they need to make their way to an extraction 310 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: point before their time runs out or they lose everything 311 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: that they gained in that session. But there's no persistent world, right, 312 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: It's not like you can leave a bit building or 313 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,360 Speaker 1: hide a stash into building and then come back three 314 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,639 Speaker 1: days later and get that stash. You can't do that. 315 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,679 Speaker 1: There's also no elements of role playing games in the 316 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: Day Before either, so gamers felt like they had been bamboozled. 317 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: They said, this is not the same game that was 318 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: being sold to us. Later, an anonymous former developer for 319 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: Fantastic told Eurogamer that not only was The Day Before 320 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: not an MMO, but that there had never been a 321 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: plan to make it an MMO in the first place, 322 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: that that was clearly beyond their abilities, and that it 323 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: should never have been marketed as an MMO. The game 324 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,640 Speaker 1: would be played on servers. Like I said, they could 325 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,919 Speaker 1: support like one hundred people, way too small for a 326 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: classic MMO, and without role playing or in game plans 327 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: or raids or anything like that, it just didn't meet 328 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: the definition. The game that was being marketed was just 329 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 1: not the same one that was actually development. And this 330 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: former dev also said that when team members would bring 331 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: up concerns to the brothers and say, hey, you know, 332 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: we're misleading people, this is not the same sort of 333 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: game that we're actually making, they were often ignored, or worse, 334 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,119 Speaker 1: they were moved off the project. The former developer also 335 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: claimed that the brothers frequently changed their minds as to 336 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,199 Speaker 1: what should be in the game, and this contributed significantly 337 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: to production delays because you would be working to add 338 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:35,480 Speaker 1: features in or take features out, or change direction, and obviously, 339 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: without a unified approach to the direction of a game, 340 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: you're not going to have a smooth development process. Okay, 341 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: still got a little bit left to say about what 342 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 1: went on with the day before. Before I get to that, 343 00:20:50,040 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: Let's take another quick break, all right. As I said, 344 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:08,120 Speaker 1: this former developer with Fantastic was saying that there never 345 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,960 Speaker 1: had been plans to make this game an MMO, something 346 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: that really shouldn't come as a surprise based upon what 347 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: was released, but it really shows the difference between the 348 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: marketing and the development. Meanwhile, gamers were flooding Steam with 349 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: more negative reviews. The game wasn't really stable. Servers were 350 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: filling up so quickly that players were often left waiting 351 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: for ages for a session availability, only to feel disappointed 352 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: once they actually were able to connect to a session. 353 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: And this is part of what made the story so notable, 354 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: because it went from being one of the most highly 355 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 1: anticipated titles on Steam to one almost universally reviled by 356 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,360 Speaker 1: the player base that had purchased the title. That made 357 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: it really interesting, It was probably not so interesting to Fantastic, 358 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,919 Speaker 1: which attempted to go into damage control mode again. They 359 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:06,439 Speaker 1: made denials of being an asset flip. They said that 360 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: they'd been working on the title for four years. They 361 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: made kind of a half hearted apology for the marketing, 362 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: saying that maybe the game hadn't been marketed properly. There 363 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: should have been no maybe there, but these measures clearly 364 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:29,640 Speaker 1: weren't working. They were not modifying the game community at all. Shockingly, 365 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 1: four days after launching the game into early access, Fantastic 366 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 1: announced that the company was shutting down because the game 367 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: was not financially successful. Now, this also raised eyebrows because 368 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,880 Speaker 1: it had sold two hundred thousand copies in early access, 369 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: and yes, a lot of people were already requesting refunds. 370 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: But there'd been lots of games that had really rocky launches. 371 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: A Cyberpunk twenty seventy seven springs to mind. That game 372 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 1: had a terrible launch. There were so many people pointing 373 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: out flaws in the game, and yet the teams behind 374 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: those games would rally and they would address the issue. 375 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: And with Cyberpunk, it became an incredible turnaround. I mean, 376 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: if you've heard about the DLC that came out earlier 377 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: this year, that turned Cyberpunk from a joke where people 378 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:30,160 Speaker 1: just dismissed the game entirely, saying it's JANKI it turned 379 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:34,199 Speaker 1: it into a Game of the Year contender, right. That 380 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: is phenomenal. That's incredible dedication in your developer team, and 381 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: it shows what can happen if you really do take 382 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: the incoming criticisms to heart and try to address them. 383 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: But Fantastic would never get that chance. The company focused 384 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: instead on wiping out its online presence, including its YouTube channel, 385 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 1: its founder's Twitter feed, like it's on website, pretty much 386 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: its entire online existence. Fantastic deleted Mytona. The publisher said 387 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: it will honor refunds for all players who bought the game. 388 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,959 Speaker 1: If you buy a game on Steam, you can request 389 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: a refund, but only if you've not played the game 390 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: for too long. Two hours is the cutoff here. The 391 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: idea is that if you play a game for like 392 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: forty hours and then you ask for a refund, what 393 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: you're doing is you're trying to scam the store and 394 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: get your money back for a game that you have 395 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 1: thoroughly played. But if you bought a game, you booted 396 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: it up and within an hour or so you realize 397 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: you made a huge mistake, to quote arrested development, you 398 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: can get your money back. But a lot of players 399 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: were in that post two hour group, right, and that 400 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,719 Speaker 1: was largely because of those server issues. It's not like 401 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: they were actively playing the game. The game was running 402 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,160 Speaker 1: and they were trying to play it, but they were 403 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: having trouble connecting to sessions, and so by the time 404 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,199 Speaker 1: they're able to request for a refund, they've already got 405 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 1: more than two hours of quote unquote game time and 406 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: they would be left out in the cold. But my 407 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: Tona appeared to say that this will not be the case, 408 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 1: that they will honor all refunds by that time, by 409 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 1: the time Fantastic was shutting down, nearly half of all 410 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: the people who had bought the day before in early 411 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: Access had already requested a refund. That's terrible. Now, some 412 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: gamers accused the Brothers of trying to take the money 413 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: and run, that the whole thing was a scam from 414 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: top to bottom, that it was never anything more than that. 415 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,360 Speaker 1: I don't have any hard evidence one way or the other, 416 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: but here is my take. I doubt that this was 417 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 1: an intentional scam. I just don't think it makes much 418 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: sense to be an intentional scam. I think a lot 419 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,879 Speaker 1: of scummy stuff happened, right. I think there were a 420 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:56,160 Speaker 1: lot of really bad decisions, and those include unpaid labor 421 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 1: being at the top. I think that's the worst decision, 422 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: But mismarketing the game is another clear one. So yes, 423 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: there were definitely bad decisions that were being done, some 424 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 1: shady stuff that was going on, But I don't think 425 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: that the ultimate desire was to run a scam. For 426 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: one thing, Steam doesn't pay developers in real time, right. 427 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: If you go on Steam and you buy a copy 428 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: of a game, it's not like Steam then cuts a 429 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,920 Speaker 1: check for the developer and sends it on right then 430 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 1: and there. In fact, most of the time, we're talking 431 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,719 Speaker 1: about a pretty significant delay, like a delay of a 432 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: month or two between when Steam receives you know, revenue 433 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:39,680 Speaker 1: from purchases and when it sends that along to the developer. 434 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: So when you've got a delay that's a month or two, 435 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: then you know you can't You're not going to make 436 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 1: any money by launching a game and then shutting down 437 00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,159 Speaker 1: within less than a week. That's just not going to 438 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: work on that sort of time frame. So it's not 439 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: like the Brothers took the money from those two hundred 440 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: thousand initial sales and then said Cus suckers and ran 441 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:08,879 Speaker 1: off to Cabo or something. That's just not realistic. Instead, 442 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: I think this was a case of a studio tackling 443 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: a project that was just beyond their capability. They overpromised 444 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,920 Speaker 1: and they underdelivered. They did appear to use pre build assets, right, 445 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:23,640 Speaker 1: but a lot of games do that, and it would 446 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: be unrealistic to expect a small independent developer studio to 447 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:30,640 Speaker 1: build everything from the ground up in just a couple 448 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: of years. That's just impossible if you look at some 449 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: of the big Triple A titles out there, which obviously 450 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 1: are built on a much larger scale. Granted, but these 451 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: are companies that spend the better part of the decade 452 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: developing some of their big titles. So I don't think 453 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: it would have been fair to expect a small studio 454 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,880 Speaker 1: to release an ambitious project like this in a year 455 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: or two and not make use of pregenerating assets. I 456 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: just don't think that was possible. I don't think that 457 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: the assets were incorporated very well. I think that the 458 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,120 Speaker 1: gap between what was shown in trailers and what people 459 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: could actually experience when they played the game was way 460 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 1: too big. I mean, you can watch videos of people 461 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: doing side by side comparisons where the environments don't look 462 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: nearly as good. The lighting is not at all impressive 463 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: compared to the trailers. That's far less occupied by both 464 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: zombies and player characters, so you can run through an 465 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: entire region and not see anyone hardly the same sort 466 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: of high tension kind of experience that the trailers were 467 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: giving off. So that certainly was an issue. And also 468 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: I think, you know, the studio heads changing their minds 469 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: over what needed to be in the game versus not 470 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 1: in the game. That was a really huge blow to 471 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: the company as well. And yeah, I think they were 472 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: just kind of hoping they could do the fake it 473 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: until you make it philosophy and that eventually things would 474 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: shake out okay, But it didn't. So I think it 475 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: was a project that was mired with terrible decisions. But 476 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: I don't think it was an intentional scam. If it 477 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: in fact was an intentional scam, if that was the 478 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: plan all along, and maybe the brothers just wanted to 479 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: take my Tona's investment into the game and attempt to 480 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: keep as much of that money as possible. Maybe that's 481 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: the case. Maybe that was the case all along. Maybe 482 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: they were just like, let's take the publisher money and run. 483 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,520 Speaker 1: But they didn't do that right away. They stuck around 484 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 1: and they actually put out a game. It's not like 485 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 1: the game got canceled, which I would think would be 486 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: more likely if you were trying to scam the publisher. Also, 487 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: with both of those companies having their origins from Siberia, 488 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: I would say that it'd be real risky to pull 489 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: those kind of shenanigans on purpose. So I again I 490 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: think the old adage of you should never attribute something 491 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: to maliciousness when it could go to just incompetence. I'm 492 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: more willing to believe in competence in this case coupled 493 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: with some shady business practices. But yeah, that's my take. 494 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: I don't know anything for sure, but this was a 495 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: really fascinating story that unfolded over the last couple of weeks, 496 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 1: so I wanted to do an episode about it, and 497 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 1: I hope that you found it interesting. I also hope 498 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: you are all well, and I will talk to you 499 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: again really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For 500 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 501 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.