With The Day Before's servers shutting down later in January, the game that just released in December is already effectively dead. Some are inevitably still playing it right now, but with the game delisted from Steam already, any idea of it gaining new players went away alongside the Steam listing. Some modders, however, are working on a way to preserve The Day Before by making it playable in an offline mode, though there's been no indication so far as to when (or if) that version of the game will ever be finished.

Twitter users Luci0 and fskartd are the ones working on this offline version of The Day Before with news of the project first circulating on Twitter this week.

in the process of cracking #thedaybefore and making it playable offlne. pic.twitter.com/0zSSgTWU6Z

— Luci0 (@realluci0) December 26, 2023

An offline mode was previously talked about in an official capacity years ago back before the game and its developer, Fntastic, became embroiled in "scam" accusations from the community, but it was later clarified that there would not be an official offline mode after all. As such, with the game's servers going offline next month, that'd spell an end for The Day Before.

Unless, of course, Luci0 and fskartd get the offline mode up and running. The former tweeted about the plans to do so this week by saying that they were "in the process of cracking" the game to make it playable offline.

In follow-up posts shared afterwards, Luci0 tweeted out things like a clip which they thought to be a scrapped intro for The Day Before among other assets that those interested in the game may want to see as the work on the offline mode continues. The most recent update on the project said that there was "not much progress" being made right now (understandable given that we're in the middle of the holidays and the offline initiative was just announced on Tuesday) but that more info would be shared in the future as it was available.

Why Is The Day Before Shutting Down?
The Day Before has had no shortage of news and controversies surrounding the game, but if you missed the culmination of all the kerfuffle, Fntastic announced recently that The Day Before would be shutting down and that Fntastic itself would cease operations. Like many parts of its development saga, that last point about Fntastic has been debated as well within the community, but the plans for the end of The Day Before are much more certain.

"We regret to inform you that the development company Fntastic has officially ceased operations, and as a result The Day Before will be retired and the servers will be turned off on 22 January 2024," Fntastic's post said.

"As previously communicated, Mytona, as the investor, has been working in collaboration with Steam to facilitate refunds for all game purchasers. For any players that have not already had their purchase refunded, Steam will now proactively refund all remaining players."

The Day Before's servers will go offline on January 22nd, so we'll see sometime afterwards if the game's made playable at all offline.

Posted: Dec 31, 2023 1:51 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/the-day-before-offline-mode/