The Day Beforewas announced in January 2021 and immediately garnered a ton of interest from prospective fans. The idea of a game that mixes elements ofThe DivisionandThe Last of Usin an open world was a project many people grew interested in. Despite all the interest inThe Day Before, it has been relatively silent since that announcement. While the game has shown off some visuals and other tidbits, it hasn’t offered much substantial info.
RecentlyThe Day Before’s Twitter \engaged in a virtual event build-up, posted a set of images to tease an announcement.The Day Beforewas believed to have some kind of showcase airing in September to satiate the appetite for information, but throughout September more teasers were posted for this possible event with nothing coming of it. NowOctober and its stacked video game releaseshave arrived, and whileThe Day Before’s event seems to have been pushed to this month, there still appears to be nothing tangible fans can grasp.
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The Day Before’s Silence
The Day Beforespent a lot of time being relatively silent before these teasers started going up, so keeping fans engaged should be a major focus for now. While it can be stressful to meet player expectations and set a release date if fans will have a long waitm letting them know sooner than later is ideal. It would be better for fans to see previews of the development process and know what is being done rather than just hoping that one day it will release.
This is especially important as another major zombie-killing game gets ready to release.Back 4 Bloodwill likely take the world by storm, and has already built up a solid playerbase through beta access. IfThe Day Beforecontinues to be absent and vague on social media, it could become a diamond in the rough; lost to players because their focus shifted elsewhere.
At one point this approach was understandable, as major studios were working on titles that could be viewed as similar toThe Day Before. Just likeBack 4 Blood,Rainbow Six Extractionwill be pitting players against zombified entities. By June 2021, many people were looking at a growing list of games that tried filling a similar niche, albeit in their own ways. Now,Back 4 Bloodlooks to be standing alone afterRainbow Six Extractionwas delayed asThe Day Beforemaintained radio silence for much of the summer.
While it isn’t realistic to expect a release date this year,The Day Beforecould take advantage ofa Halloween event likeFortnitehasin the past. While other horror games release in the current market,The Day Beforecould work on building its fanbase more and get people excited for the future, with a showcase this month being a prime avenue for it.
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Alternative Storytelling
The Day Beforehit the ground running withsome impressive gameplay trailers, but its absence of late means it isn’t reaching as many people. Missing events - even if they set no concrete date in the first place - doesn’t bode well. While the video teasers being released help set a tone for the game,The Day Before’s “Mega Event” won’t pack as much of a punch without more concrete information behind it.
Because2021 has been a great year for horror games, rushing doesn’t seem necessary, but that doesn’t mean nothing should be done. One great aspect of the Internet age is fans being able to interact across multiple platforms. For them to do this, and to pull more prospective fans into the fold, there needs to be a greater presence fromThe Day Before. This could mean more social media engagement or releasing developer diaries so fans can feel up-to-date on the game.
That said, it’s possible the vagueness and current marketing silence are intentional. While trolling fans isn’t always the best move, vague interactions aren’t necessarily new to gaming. There may be some folks that rage online, but in the past big games likeRed Dead Redemption 2have also used a vague approach before major announcements.
This approach could be seen as questionable by some fans, but it isn’t an invalid way to keep people engaged. Moving forward it might turn out that the teaser shorts debut an entire story. If they become regular installments like the lore videos forOverwatch,fans could begin to see the world ofThe Day Beforebeing built right in front of their eyes.
If the teasers act as a prequel to the game, setting up its story ahead of time rather than using an early-game mission like inThe Last of Us,The Day Beforecould jump right into the action. The current approach could become an interesting way to market the game. It isn’t ideal to seeThe Day Beforerelatively absent online, but that won’t necessarily lead to bad news either. Right now, finding a balanced way to interact with fans while leaving an air of mystery aroundThe Day Before’s world should be its main focus.
The Day Beforeis scheduled to release on PC in 2021.
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