God Save Birmingham Creators Welcome The Day Before Comparisons

When the medieval zombie survival game God Save Birmingham debuted in April, its 8-minute "gameplay" trailer ignited a firestorm of reactions—equal parts excitement and deep skepticism. Jokes about its Birmingham setting were plentiful, but a stronger critique emerged: many felt it looked too polished to be real. The trailer's animations suggested pre-rendered footage rather than actual gameplay, leading some to accuse it of attempting to mislead players.

Perhaps the most damaging comparison was to the infamous disaster, The Day Before. Critics labeled God Save Birmingham a "fake game" and even a "scam." For those who missed it, The Day Before's launch was a historic debacle. It was marketed as a groundbreaking post-apocalyptic MMO but launched as a broken, barebones extraction shooter. IGN's blistering 1/10 review underscored its failure, and the servers were shut down a mere four days after its Early Access release.

Following the viral traction of its April trailer, publisher Kakao Games and developer Ocean Drive showcased a demo at PAX East and released new gameplay footage. This update presented a more realistic view of the game's current development state, helping to counter some of the skepticism sparked by the original, over-polished promo. Yet, the shadow of The Day Before and those "scam game" accusations still linger.

With this context, I spoke with Ocean Drive's CEO, Jae Kim, and head of publishing, Jungsoo Lee, to understand if God Save Birmingham can ever escape this comparison. Surprisingly, both executives appeared not just accepting, but positively welcoming of the parallel. Read on to discover their reasoning.