The Day Before left audiences awe-struck with its gameplay trailer. The game looks beautiful and dynamic with the type of zombie survival that many fans of the genre have been waiting for. With its original release window now gone by, however, the game continues to be silent. This type of reservation from The Day Before should not be surprising to many though.
The Covid-19 pandemic has crippled a lot of industries and complicated logistics for many, video games included. While there was still a tentative Q2 release for The Day Before for a long time that has since passed. In its wake, the game will likely remain silent for a little longer and there is probably some good reasoning behind this.
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On top of the incredible amounts of effort that go into making and then shipping a game, there is also thought on how and when a title should be released. The Day Before did not have as much competition when it was originally announced, but E3 2021 completely changed that. There was a slew of announcements and demos, and major titles have been confirmed for this fall.
The downside of this is titles like The Day Before, which may have wanted to push back release, were faced with some difficult choices. The game was likely not released in its original window because it still needed some extra work, but a fall window is now saturated with games fans might think of as the same, or at least similar enough to hinder the game’s performance. This predicament was noticeable a few years ago with the release of Battleborn and the lore-deep Overwatch.
Not many people may remember Battleborn, even though it was a solid game, but it was similar to Overwatch when they both released. The latter dominated the market and now Battleborn is no more. Avoiding a similar situation this fall is likely why fans might not hear about The Day Before for a while. It has a lot of competition to go up against in an often significant, sales window.
From September to November fans of horror, thriller, survival, and suspense will have a variable buffet of options. The Medium, Back 4 Blood, and Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes are just a few games that will keep fans on the edge of their seats. Back 4 Blood, in particular, could be enough to significantly divide the audience that The Day Before is targeted at.
Taking these other games into consideration is important, and while it would be nice to get a release date for The Day Before that is still in 2021, it is probably a little unrealistic. Giving room for The Day Before's Survivor Colonies to develop will likely make the game stronger. Rushed games have left fans feeling scorned in the past, and saturated release windows have resulted in beautiful gems being lost to time. Each title is sure to bring its own strengths to keep the suspense and fear alive so they should all be allowed to breathe.
With that added space, The Day Before’s unique take and in-depth gameplay could take the world by storm next year so silence now could be a great play for layer. If it does get a release date for this year it could still dominate around the holidays alongside Halo Infinite. Killing zombies is a great way to spread cheer and would likely go over well with many. Still, as the silence continues a more realistic that fans will be seeing it sometime in 2022.
The Day Before is scheduled for release in 2021.