Fntastic Cancels Escape Factory to Launch New Prop Hunt Game ITEMS: What’s Next?

The controversial development studio Fntastic, best known for the now-defunct survival game The Day Before, has announced it is canceling its Kickstarter project for Escape Factory to begin work on a new prop hunt game titled ITEMS. While the studio gained notoriety for the controversy surrounding The Day Before, Fntastic had previously found success with Propnight, a popular multiplayer hide-and-seek game on Steam.

Unfortunately, both The Day Before and Propnight were shut down on January 22 after the studio announced its closure. The Day Before, once a highly anticipated release, quickly became a lightning rod for criticism, with fans labeling the game a "scam." The backlash stemmed from Fntastic advertising the game as an MMO, when in reality, it more closely resembled an extraction shooter. On top of that, the game lacked many promised features, suffered from server issues and bugs, and ultimately went down in gaming history as a major flop.

After its closure in 2023, Fntastic made a controversial return in September, promising to regain the community’s trust while launching a Kickstarter campaign for a new game called Escape Factory. Now, less than a month later, the studio has canceled the campaign, refunded all pledges, and shifted its focus to a new prop hunt game. In a statement on Twitter, Fntastic explained that Escape Factory "has not generated enough interest," but added that it had "received many requests for a prop hunt game."

Fntastic's New Prop Hunt Game in Development

Upon its return, Fntastic took "full responsibility" for the controversies surrounding The Day Before and pledged to fix its past mistakes. Fans, however, were skeptical, especially since the studio was asking for donations to support its new project. The Escape Factory Kickstarter campaign followed an "all-or-nothing" funding model, meaning all pledges have now been refunded due to the campaign's cancellation.

Although Escape Factory has not been fully canceled, Fntastic says it is postponing the project "until a more appropriate time." Meanwhile, development has begun on ITEMS, an action-horror prop hunt game, with a playable demo and new Kickstarter campaign potentially on the horizon. To support ITEMS, the studio also plans to release mobile games in parallel, with funds from these games directly funding the development of ITEMS.

While fans of Propnight might welcome the news, many remain cautious given Fntastic’s troubled history, particularly the controversies that surrounded The Day Before and accusations that Escape Factory was an "asset flip" shortly after its release.