What had previously been Steam's second most wishlisted game, open world zombie apocalypse multiplayer shooter The Day Before, has delayed its launch from March 1 to November 10.

Why? Steam had delisted their game following receipt of a trademark dispute claim.

Developer Fntastic revealed the game on January 28, 2021, without first having secured name rights and didn't apply for them until a whole year later, January 27, 2022.

In the interim a Sun, Lee-Jae of South Korea whose previous trademarks relate to battery management filed a trademark application.

The trademark website has a section at the bottom for "Similar Marks" where you can see both of these.

Fntastic say they've only just become aware of the other application and are seeking to resolve the dispute.

Putting aside questions of why they didn't file for trademark for revealing the game, they waited a whole year to do so, and how they didn't notice the other application, the result is a massive change to this year's gaming landscape.

HBO's unrelated The Last of Us zombie TV series is super hot right now and their multiplayer game is nowhere near release.

Appetite for a game like The Day Before may never be stronger than right now.

Still releasing on March 3 is the PC port of previously PS5 exclusive The Last of Us Part I, from which the HBO series is derived.

Likely this will work in their favour.

Steam's next most wishlisted game is Bethesda's open world(s) action roleplaying NASApunk Starfield which is currently scheduled for a Q1/Q2 release.

Their original release date was November 11, last year, i.e. 11 / 11 / 22 and 11th anniversary of their Skyrim's release.

While there has been no news of its release being delayed again, were it to delay into the second half of the year, everyone would expect them to go for 11 / 11 again, which would be one day after The Day Before's new date.

Most Bethesda games have been big hits but The Day Before was and had been ahead of Starfield for some time.

A close proximity release might sting Starfield.

On the other hand there's also Microsoft owned Arkane's open world vampire apocalypse single-player / co-op shooter Redfall, scheduled for a Q1/Q2 release and about which we are expecting news and maybe a release date tomorrow.

The Day Before's delay could be a great boon for them.

Also releasing in March but not making any noticeable waves is open world action roleplaying game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Quite dissimilar from the other games it might still benefit from this delay.

The Day Before is now scheduled to release on November 10 on PC, Xbox X|S, and PS5.

[ Main Image: The Day Before RTX trailer. Credit: Mytona via YouTube. ]

References

Fntastic [@FntasticHQ] (January 25, 2023). Dear Fans! Twitter.

Fntastic (January 28, 2021). The Day Before — Announcement Trailer 4K. YouTube.

Steam. Top Wishlists. (viewed January 25, 2023)

USPTO Report. The Day Before - filed by Lee, Sun Jae. (viewed January 25, 2023)

USPTO Report. The Day Before - filed by Fntastic Pte. Ltd. (viewed January 25, 2023)