You thought we were done with The Day Before shenanigans? Think again. Currently, Steam keys for the troubled zombie game are being listed on unauthorized third-party key reseller sites for more than $300. Suffice it to say, you should not spend this much money on this game (or maybe any game?).
The Day Before, hyped as a zombie-filled, open-world MMO, was once the most wishlisted game on Valve’s digital storefront. But as time went on, things started to get…sus. After soliciting unpaid labor to help work on the game, getting into a weird kerfuffle with a calendar app of the same name as the game, and in general giving folks on the game’s community Discord and subreddit bad vibes, the game launched to reveal a mostly asset-flipped, poorly designed extraction shooter. It was pulled from Steam, folks were refunded regardless of how much time they’d spent playing, and developer Fntastic shut it doors after digitally shrugging it off as “shit happens.”
Given such a wild saga, it’s only fitting now that codes from the game are being posted on online resellers with sky-high asking prices.
How are people able to sell a game that was taken off Steam?
When games are taken off Steam, they’re often still accessible via a key. Take 2006’s original Prey, for example. You can’t buy it on Steam today, but find yourself an unused key and, yeah, you can redeem, download, and play it right now in 2023. Unauthorized sites which deal in key sales, however, often get said keys through illegal means, like credit card theft. Others are secured by directly ripping off developers.
However, it’s important to note that as an online game, The Day Before will likely become completely unplayable when the servers are shut down, which is likely to be very soon.
Read More: How The Controversial Steam Key Marketplace G2A Got So Big
Third-party sales aggregator GG.deals lists a variety of third-party keysellers, which include detailed notes about potential risks of purchasing through these vendors. Right now, the cheapest you can get an (allegedly) unused The Day Before code for is $233.97. Two other sites are selling it for $304.
But if you’ve got it in your head that you’re open to the risks of using such sites and aren’t persuaded by the ethically gray space they live in, please reconsider and don’t spend $300 on The Day Before. It’s not worth it.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified GG.gaming as Green Man Games. Kotaku regrets the error.