Mohamed Hassan 
Co-op survival game The Wild Eight is caught in the crossfire of The Day Before, a game that has been blasted as a scam by many.
The Wild Eight launched in early access in 2017 and has enjoyed a generally strong response from players, with over 6,000 positive reviews on Steam to date. However, the game was developed by Fntastic, which recently launched The Day Before. The survival MMO project was the subject of several controversies during its development, and its launch was abruptly followed by Fntastic’s closure.
Players were quick to label The Day Before a scam, which led to review bombing of the game on Steam. From there, other games from Fntastic received the same treatment, including The Wild Eight with negative reviews and pointing out the developer’s bad practices with both The Day Before.
Confusion followed after Fntastic’s developer was changed on Steam, with Eight Points now listed as the game’s creator. Eight Points rebranded to Fntastic following The Wild Eight’s launch. The Wild Eight’s publisher, HypeTrain Digital, clarified the situation and explained the name change.
Is The Wild Eight another Fntastic scam?
The Wild Eight is not a Fntastic scam, as it has been maintained by another studio since 2017.
Publisher HypeTrain Digital has noticed that many fans are writing negative reviews on The Wild Eight’s Steam page due to the game’s previous association with Fntastic. The company was asked about this, and stated that it changed the details on The Wild Eight’s Steam page in order to distance itself and the game from the controversy surrounding The Day Before.
“Fntastic was the original developer of The Wild Eight, but after the game’s release in early access, the developers decided to discontinue work on the project due to internal reasons within the studio. Hypetrain Digital took over the development independently. All business relations with Fntastic were terminated in 2017,” publisher HypeTrain told Eurogamer in a statement.
Changing the details on the Steam page seemingly sparked the review bombing, as other Fntastic titles have largely avoided this treatment.
Fntastic launched a number of titles in the years prior to its The Day Before “scam,” with The Wild Eight and Radiant One receiving generally positive reviews from both fans and critics. Propnight, a game based on the Prop Hunt game mode for Garry’s Mod, received mixed reviews. Radiant One’s review score has largely been untouched by angry gamers while Propnight’s recent reviews on Steam are only marginally below its previous average.
The Day Before was subject to intense criticism before the game even launched for a strange copyright case regarding its title and its trailer recycling assets and animations seen in other games. Ultimately, if the game truly was a scam, it wasn’t successful as Valve and its publisher are actively facilitating refunds for players.
