The Day Before just confirmed their servers are getting killed so don’t you dare buy a Steam key

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A week after The Day Before left the Steam marketplace, a new announcement from developer Fntastic means you should hold off on that grey market purchase.

Even at launch, The Day Before was rightly ripped to shreds as it failed to meet player expectations. The large multiplayer world felt hollow and many promised features were nowhere to be seen. Players struggled to enter servers and its clunky movement and crafting mechanics didn’t do it any favors either. Its marketing materials were quickly scrubbed off platforms, inviting even more scrutiny.

When are The Day Before servers shutting down

In a new post on X (formerly Twitter), the developer noted that ‘The Day Before will be retired and the servers will be turned off on 22 January 2024.’ They also mention that their investor Mytona is working with Steam to facilitate refunds. The post also claims that Steam will ‘now proactively refund all remaining players.’ It’s no longer on Steam so don’t bother checking for a direct key. The Fntastic CEO’s X profile also went dark. But the reviews section is still live if you’re wondering just how much of its ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ rating is warranted.

The news comes right after the video game key aftermarket got its hands on The Day Before keys. And since these sites are unauthorized, you can never be certain of whether the game is even playable at this point. But if your idea of a steal deal sounds like $233, deals aggregator GG.deals might just have the holiday gift for you.

There’s no further proof that The Day Before is dead. So don’t try to nab a key before its servers go down. While our writer Nico had hoped that The Day Before might be worth saving, things look bleak right now. He was referring to ‘what was initially showcased back when the game was first revealed in 2021 and not the bug-filled, not-an-MMO, early access mess we were presented with towards the end of 2023.’ It’s nothing more than a cautionary tale for the entire industry now, from customers to publishers and developers.