The studio Fntastic, known for creating the controversial game The Day Before and closing at the end of last year, has decided to return to work. They announced that everyone deserves a second chance.
The Day Before
The developers presented a plan to create "Fntastic 2.0" and promised to work "honestly, transparently, and professionally." The studio emphasized that they learned valuable lessons from past mistakes and will take them into account moving forward. For instance, the revived Fntastic has renounced the practice of collaborating with external volunteers, for which they were previously criticized. Additionally, the studio stated that they refunded all money to players for the purchase of The Day Before and are not involved in any legal proceedings.
The studio's staff has become smaller but still includes the same people who worked on previous Fntastic games. Notably, some employees work only in the evenings, others juggle their work at Fntastic with another job, and some "help out of goodwill." The latter group likely works for free, which somewhat contradicts the statements about foregoing volunteer work.
The first project of Fntastic after its revival will be the cooperative game Escape Factory, whose demo version is already available on Steam. The studio has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the game's development, setting a minimum goal of $20,000. If this target is not reached, all collected funds will be returned to the backers, and Fntastic will likely close once again. At the time of this publication, Fntastic has managed to raise only $382 on Kickstarter.