The Day Before Delays Launch To November Due To A Trademark Complaint

Earlier this week, The Day Before developer FNTASTIC announced their plans to release raw gameplay footage of the upcoming zombie survival MMO later this month. Unfortunately, that’s now been pushed back indefinitely while the game’s launch has been delayed to November due to a trademark dispute.

According to FNTASTIC and the game’s publisher, MYTONA, they had yet to file a trademark for the game’s title even after the game was officially announced in January 2022. Unfortunately, their failure to do so has come back to bite them in the behind. A private individual had apparently filed a trademark for the title in May 2021 which was only approved later in 2022.

The said individual is named Sun Jae Lee who reportedly has multiple patents for battery-related tech in South Korea. The Day Before is his first and only trademark in the US though. Lee recently filed a complaint with Valve who immediately delisted the game on Steam, as is the case with all previously filed copyright and trademark complaints.

While eagerly waiting fans can now rest easy knowing that the game is still alive, they’re going to have to wait a bit longer for it to launch. In light of its trademark issues, the team has decided to delay the game’s launch from March to November and will need to consult with their lawyers first before they can release the promised gameplay footage.

There’s speculation, however, that there may be more to the extended delay than the trademark dispute. Eurogamer notes that FNTASTIC’s comments about their commitment to delivering the “best game possible” suggests that the studio may be facing other development challenges apart from another person claiming ownership of the game’s title.

I don’t profess to be an expert in game development but changing a game’s title and any other assets that use it shouldn’t take eight months to do. We’d love to hear more from anyone who’s has more knowledge on the matter in the comments section below.