The Day Before, formerly the second wishlist item on Steam, has been relatively quiet since it was put down by a trademark dispute over a calendar app called TheDayBefore. The dispute led to the delisting of the Steam page, the removal of the YouTube video, and a series of bizarre and ill-informed comments from developer Fntastic.

However, in an interview with WellPlayed, Fntastic co-founders Eduard and Aisen Gotovtsev discussed the ongoing trademark dispute, the studio's use of volunteer labor, and a new trailer that once again manages to convey little information He spoke about the following.

Asked about the legal status of the game and its Steam release, Fntastic (or one of the co-founders, but it is unclear which) believes that "the power lies in the truth" and that the studio "first started using this name in connection with video games," which is an "indisputable fact," he said. Nevertheless, TheDayBefore (a calendar app) may have something to say about it, as the manufacturer claims to have used the name since the app was first distributed in 2010.

But the Gotovtsevs don't care about that. They went on to reassure everyone that The Day Before's "Steam page will be back soon. We'll be back at the top of the wish list," they assured. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not exactly encouraged; official communications from Fntastic often make it feel like the studio is operating on a different level than reality, and this seems to be no different.

Whatever the studio says, TheDayBefore (another calendar app, confusingly) has been around for a while and seems to have rights to several related trademarks; I don't think Fntastic will be able to resolve this so easily, but I am not an intellectual property lawyer. The Gotovtsevs also say that the trademark issue will be handled by "MytonaFntastic, a New Zealand joint venture with the publisher Mytona.

Fntastic has also been accused of using volunteer labor in games like Propnight and The Day Before, and WellPlayed asked the co-founders about that as well. To this end, the pair boasted about Fntastic's "innovative work culture based on a philosophy of volunteerism" and revealed that "over 300 volunteers representing 30 countries" have signed up to do "activities they genuinely enjoy."

According to the co-founders, volunteers are working on "creating Easter eggs" and "the scope and volume of tasks will grow" as November 10, the game's release date, approaches.

Not a very good answer if you ask me; I get the impression that the co-founders of Fntastic genuinely have no idea that there might be a problem with using unpaid labor for a game that is going to make a lot of money. On the contrary, they consider it a bold, innovative new idea, one of the many qualities that "set them apart from soulless corporations."

WellPlayed also asked them both at length about when and what kind of game "The Day Before" will be. In the meantime, here is a new trailer that Fntastic released at the same time the interview was posted. As of this writing, the top rated comment on the YouTube page reads, "This game has the talent to look completely different every time it is shown." Yes, it does.