The Demise of E3, the Collapse of The Day Before, and the Triumph of Baldur’s Gate 3

Here is your news recap for the 14th of December:

Multiplayer isn’t coming to Starfield anytime soon.

The team behind Skyrim Together, a popular multiplayer mod for Skyrim, has announced that they will not be completing their multiplayer mod for Starfield because the game is “fucking trash.”
In a post to Skyrim Together’s discord sever, one of the developers said “The game is boring, bland, and the main draw of Bethesda games, exploration in a lively and handcrafted world, was completely gone. I’m not gonna put my heart and soul into a mod for a game as mediocre as this.”
There are plenty of Starfield fans out there though and this is disappointing news if you were looking forward to traveling the stars with your friends, but there is some hope. Since they had begun work on the project, already porting about 70% of the code, the team is releasing what they’ve currently done in case anyone wants to finish the mod themselves.

The Day Before was bad, and now it’s gone.

Starting 2023 as one of the most wishlisted games on steam, The Day Before is a zombie shooter that promised a lot and has delivered on practically nothing. It released last week and was immediately inundated with negative reviews citing visual bugs and game-breaking glitches. Players who could actually play the game didn’t find the game they’d been promised in marketing, but a poorly crafted, empty, shooter.

Just four days after it launched, The Day Before was completely removed from steam and developer Fntastic announced its closure. “Today, we announce the closure of Fntastic studio. Unfortunately, The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners,” their statement on twitter reads. “We apologize if we didn’t meet your expectations. We did everything within our power, but unfortunately, we miscalculated our capabilities. Creating games is an incredibly challenging endeavor.”

If it seems like a good response on their part, consider this seems to be the end of their accountability. They later reply to some (well-earned) criticism with “This was our first big experience. Shit happens.” Which is less good. If you are one of the unlucky people who bought the game Fntastic have said they’re working with steam to provide refunds for any players who want one.

Baldurs Gate 3 Sweeps the Game Awards.

In case you missed it– Baldurs Gate 3 dominated this year’s Game Awards. It won the Player’s Voice Award and five of its 8 direct nominations, that being Best Performance, Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, and of course Game of The Year. The only nominations that Baldur’s Gate 3 did not win were Best Music and Score, which went to Final Fantasy, and Best Narrative and Game Direction, both of which were awarded to Alan Wake 2.

E3 is actually dead.

E3 (A.K.A the Electronic Entertainment Expo) is dead. For real this time. Following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, more and more game publishers opt to manage their presentations independently and so E3 struggled to reclaim its former glory. Now, after years of evident decline, E3 officially closes its doors, marking the end of an era. A statement on the official website simply reads: “After more than two decades of E3, each one bigger than the last, the time has come to say goodbye. Thanks for the memories.”

That’s all, this week, in gaming news.