After the fiasco of what was once Steam’s most wishlisted game, The Day Before, development studio Fntastic – responsible for what many consider the worst video game of 2023 – is now seemingly exploring new ways to make money. Recently, they filed a lawsuit against a media outlet for labeling their failed game a “scam” and accusing them of “borrowing gameplay mechanics from other games” – a description Fntastic claims had damaged their reputation.
Fntastic
You might be wondering, “A media outlet? Is it IGN? PC Gamer? Or one of the countless others that labeled The Day Before a ‘scam’?” Unsurprisingly, no, the outlet in question is much smaller and less likely to have an army of lawyers on the payroll – an incredibly obscure news website called Yakutia.Info, based in the Russian region of Yakutsk – the home region of Fntastic founders, brothers Eduard and Aisen Gotovtsev.
As reported by Yakutia.Info itself, the studio sued the website for publishing two articles – one that referred to TDB as a “scam” and another that quoted a third-party YouTube video claiming that some of TDB’s gameplay mechanics were “borrowed” from other video games.
After the outlet amended its articles by replacing the word “scam” with a word that in English means “embarrassment” or “blunder” and making the quote about borrowing mechanics more complete, Fntastic still wasn’t happy and demanded that the articles be deleted and the editorial team apologize – something Yakutia.Info views as an infringement on its right to free speech and has no intention of doing, preferring to settle the matter in court.
“It is worth noting that, despite the appearance of similar articles worldwide, it was the Yakut journalists that Fntastic decided to sue,” the outlet writes. “At least, there has been no news of them suing, for example, the reputable portal IXBT.com, which initially monitored the Gotovtsev brothers’ activities and steamrolled their reputation, speaking emotionally about them in their video blogs. It is possible that the Gotovtsev brothers are not ready for larger projects and therefore focus only on what is within their reach.”
The outlet also claims that, prior to relocating to Kazakhstan – the new headquarters country of Fntastic according to Yakutia.Info – the studio “enjoyed the support of the Yakutia authorities and the IT-park, where it had an entire wing of a floor, for many years.”
“It seems that despite the colossal support from their home republic and gaming giants like Mytona, the brothers have remained at an amateur level, trying to ‘put on a brave face in a losing game’,” says the original report.
Considering that The Day Before is not a local game but rather a title with infamy spanning the entire globe, Fntastic’s decision to focus on one unknown outlet from somewhere in Siberia is nothing short of amusing. As I alluded to above, news websites, YouTubers, streamers, gaming influencers, and commenters beyond count have dubbed The Day Before a “scam” and used even more colorful descriptions, yet, out of all of them, the team claimed it was Yakutia.Info that damaged their reputation.
Ironically, the simple act of a company waging lawfare – likely to be unsuccessful, but nonetheless – tends to be seen by the gaming community as distasteful and harms one’s reputation, creating a never-ending cycle where Fntastic tarnishes its image by accusing others of tarnishing its image. Say what you will about their games, there’s no denying they are capable of providing entertainment.
So, what are your thoughts on Fntastic taking a page from Nintendo’s playbook and using legal proceedings as an intimidation tactic? Do you think they’ll succeed? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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