FNTASTIC’sThe Day Beforeis an upcoming zombie survival MMO that has made some big waves since reveal. After all, it’s not every day that a brand new game immediately draws comparisons tosales juggernauts likeThe Last of Usor popular games likeDayZ. It’s uncertain how heavily FNTASTIC intends to lean into this, but there’s another benefit these comparisons have.
WithThe Day Beforealready garnering interest across multiple fandoms and the social elements of survival MMO-style games, it seems like a safe bet that the waves have just begun. Indeed, all of this could suggest thatThe Day Beforeis one of those games that could skyrocket through Twitch at launch.
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The Day Before Combines Last of Us, DayZ, and More
The Day Beforeseems like a smorgasbord of popular IPs; while that’s not always a good thing, it’s a unique enough take that evenThe Day Before-Last of Uscomparisonsdon’t actually seem derivative. In terms of tone, dealing with zombies in a post pandemic world, and the general aesthetic,The Day Beforebears all these similarities, but it flips them on their head by being a survival game. Of course, someone could just call this aLast of Ussurvival game, but in that department, the comparisons toDayZmake the most sense.
Not enough has really been revealed to suggest thatThe Day Beforeis the nextDayZ,but it has that promise. Survival games of this nature are becoming more and more popular, with a plethora of games following in those footsteps. Its survival roots may be its strongest factor; after all, the genre is very malleable. A shooter, regardless of its context and story, will always be a shooter. That’s its draw, but a survival game has a ton of approaches that make the games feel unique. On this baseline, fans could compareArk: Survival EvolvedtoDayZ,but beyond the simplest basics, it’s hard to really say these are a 1:1 match.
Twitch Has Been Great to Games Comparable to The Day Before
Although there are some “evergreen” games that will always top Twitch, there’s been games spike on the service that seem shocking. Part of that definitely comes from viral popularity, asChess, Fall Guys, Rust, and more have all done so in the past, but survival games often have their time in the sun too.Ark, DayZ, Rust, and even the more recentValheimhave had their time in the sun on Twitch. That’s not to say that they’re gone completely, but that they hit strides that might otherwise be unexpected.
Perhaps part of this is the social aspect.Rust’s OfflineTV server was filled with reality TV-level drama, while evenGrand Theft Auto Online’s RPgames tap into this social element as well. ForThe Day Before, this means that its MMO aspects are as important as its zombie and survival gameplay elements. If The Day Before can really create a strong survival MMO now, it’ll fit perfectly alongside more traditional survival games, dinosaur-based survival games, Norse survival games, and whatever comes next. Tapping into this could very well mean thatThe Day Before’s popularity is just beginning, but for now, it remains to be seen.
The Day Beforeis currently in development for PC, planned for release in Q2 2021.
