The day before is currently the most coveted game on Steam, but it’s catching on for a very different reason. Currently, the studio uses “volunteers” who are paid with “participation certificates” and free codes, which are, you know, ideal for paying rent.
Fntastic, developers of Steam’s most coveted game, The Day Before, has updated their website to say they are an organization made up of paid, unpaid “volunteers”. You can ask them to work for free to help them deliver their projects pic.twitter.com/KogvTALpTN
– Zach Jackson (@tightinthejorts) June 27, 2022
“Fntastic’s culture is based on the idea of volunteering,” says the studio’s official website. “That means all Fntastic members are volunteers.” However, some developers are more volunteer than others. Full-time volunteers receive a salary, while part-time volunteers working in translation and community moderation receive certificates of participation and game codes. However, the study also encouraged these unpaid workers to “offer unique skills to improve our projects or create new special functions.”
The study told Well Played that the unpaid aspect “is not related to code writing or development itself … just things like location and moderation.” Apparently, these works are not considered part of Fntastic game development, although they are largely found in AAA studios. It’s also a bit troubling that they’re willing to use unpaid part-time workers to provide features for an open-world MMO, a famous, easy-to-play type of game. No, not really.
So what’s the reason for not paying people to work on one of the most anticipated PC games out there? According to his YouTube video, “Being a volunteer means that you willingly participate in the work for a common cause … Volunteering means that in every action you take, you bring a certain pleasure.” Kotaku was contacted to ask if Fntastic had negative experiences with traditional employees, but received no response at the time of publication.
The Day Before is a zombie survival MMO that uses realistic environments during combat and cooperative functions. On May 5, IGN reported that The Day Before would be delayed to March 1, 2023 to accommodate its change to Unreal Engine 5.