LogInThe judge dismissed the case, stating that it was The Day Before's poor quality that damaged Fntastic's reputation, not negative press.
No shocking news or surprises for you today: Fntastic, the infamous developer behind 2023's worst game The Day Before, has lost the courtroom battle it itself initiated against an obscure news outlet from Yakutia, Russia, with the judge ruling that all the negative press the studio received for TDB was well deserved, consideering the abysmal quality of the final product.
Fntastic
For additional context and to save you from jumping between articles, earlier this year, Fntastic filed a lawsuit against the news outlet Yakutia.Info over its use of the word "scam" to describe The Day Before, along with a quote from a third-party YouTube video suggesting some of the game's mechanics were "borrowed" from other titles.
When Fntastic demanded the articles be removed and the editorial team apologize, threatening to sue if their demands weren't met, the outlet responded with a "fine, sue me then" attitude, seeing the studio's demands as an infringement on their freedom of speech. In the end, this proved to be a wise move, as Judge Valentina Terskikh ultimately dismissed the case, siding with the defendant and ruling that The Day Before had damaged the developer's reputation on its own by being released in an incomplete state.
As stated by Yakutia.Info's lawyer Vitaly Obedin, the case largely focused on a linguistic analysis of the outlet's articles, with the defense aiming to demonstrate that the negative portrayal of Fntastic was justified by the game's poor condition at release. "A journalist has the right to express their opinion on fraud, disinformation, or violations of the law," commented Vitaly. "To satisfy the claim, evidence disproving the facts [outlined in the articles] was required – and that was precisely the task Fntastic's representatives failed to accomplish."
"The editorial team presented the court with convincing arguments confirming the validity of their criticism," Yakutia.Info writes. "Among the evidence were [Fntastic]'s own official admissions of mistakes, facts of using third-party software, and numerous reviews from dissatisfied players accusing the company of dishonesty and misleading the audience."
The outlet and its attorney have also echoed the point we previously made about the oddity of Fntastic's decision to sue a small outlet from Anytown, Nowhere, instead of the countless other publications and internet personalities who have all called The Day Before a scam and used much more colorful language, believing that if the Gotovtsev brothers won the case, they could use the Yakutia Arbitration Court's ruling in future disputes with other journalists and bloggers.
"Obedin suggested that the reason for filing the lawsuit might have been the company's desire to restore its damaged reputation after relocating from Singapore to Kazakhstan, where Fntastic moved in hopes of starting a new life and appearing flawless in front of the new market."
Although the case was dismissed, the plaintiff can still file an appeal, so, as Yakutia.Info advises, "grab your popcorn, dear readers," for it is possible Fntastic may yet continue to entertain and amuse us simply by existing.
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