The Day Before’s mysterious development continues to encounter turmoil. Developer Fntastic has been piecemealing looks at the game since its announcement in January 2021, and now further insights become slimmer amid an ongoing trademark dispute. Despite intentions for The Day Before to drop this year, online marketplace Steam and YouTube have removed several clips of the game as Fntastic seeks to settle its copyright battle.
In a recent Twitter post from The Day Before developer Fntastic, it says that “Steam and YouTube removed some of The Day Before videos from our channel due to a trademark dispute.” The dispute in question, surprisingly, relates to the actual name of the game – an element that the developer allegedly didn’t trademark. Furthermore, Fntastic presents “3 facts” on social media regarding the legalities of the project.
“The so-called ‘owner’ of the rights to the title is the creator of the calendar app, which has nothing to do with the games category,” the post explains.
Fntastic claims “after we announced the game in 2021, he also wanted to take over the title and filed for trademarks ahead of us […] he ambiguously offers to contact him to discuss something, but what?” In the event of no contact, which appears to remain off the table, the developer states “we’ll fight. Power is in the truth.”
The Day Before release date continues to face numerous delays, and players are wondering whether the developer should simply change the game’s name. YouTuber ‘BigFry‘ says that “I don’t feel bad for a company that didn’t trademark their game before it blows up on Steam.” Others like ‘TopHomatic‘ bluntly state: “Just…change…the…name.”
As t legal matters show no promising resolution in the weeks or months to come, it seems that The Day Before could enforce another delay – even after announcing one in January. Another commenter remarks “let me guess, [your] next post is ‘because of the ongoing trademark battle and lack of communication from the issuer’s legal team, we have decided to push the game back to Mid 2024’.”
For now, the identity of the copyright holder remains a mystery. So while you are waiting for The Day Before to see the light of day, divide your attention to all the upcoming PS5 games for this year – there are some serious contenders to look out for.