The most searched game on Steam also depends on unpaid “volunteers”

The Day Before, the open world survival MMO, is the am Most Wanted Game on Steam – currently before the Stray cat adventure. At the beginning of May, the title was already due to switch to Unreal Engine 5 and the significant delay in release from 6/21/22 to 3/1/23 in conversation, now it’s about the work of “volunteers”.

The day before: all employees are “volunteers”

Like Eurogamer, among others reportedThe Day Before developer Fntastic now aggressively relies on the use of volunteers. on your website The principle is explained: First of all, every member of Fntastic is a “volunteer”. Full-time volunteers are in the minority and are paid for their work. Part-time volunteers don’t get paid for their work, but there are “great bonuses, certificates of participation, and free codes.” According to the website, as a part-time volunteer, he works on translations or community moderation. They can “offer their unique skills to improve our projects or create new special features.”

According to the company, “millions” of gamers have The Day Before on their wish lists, making it one of the “most anticipated games in the world.” In light of the title change, the new initiative, according to media reports, to participate as an unpaid volunteer raises questions. Eurogamer later received a statement from Fntastic. The company’s values ​​are based on volunteerism, which means that “everyone who works here or volunteers, does so voluntarily, acts with dedication and enthusiasm and supports the team in any way they can”. You share these values ​​”within the company because we always try to involve proactive and open-hearted people.” “To volunteer means to work with free will towards a common goal,” Fntastic said in a video message with comments disabled.

Given the complexity of the project, which also includes technology (The Day Before is celebrated as a showcase of ray tracing), already skeptical so far, you should have even more doubts about whether the game will actually be finished in early 2023 due to the use of volunteers. As a reminder, in The Day Before, players in the United States must fight to survive after a severe pandemic, against both infected and surviving enemies. Resources must be collected, either in abandoned houses or in cities with skyscrapers. The area can be explored not only on foot, but also with vehicles. The Day Before will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S and will support Raytracing Reflections, Ambient Occlusion, RTX Global Illumination, and Nvidia’s DLSS features.