The medieval zombie survival game God Save Birmingham made waves in April with an 8-minute "gameplay" trailer that generated both excitement and skepticism. Amid jokes about its Birmingham setting, critics questioned whether the polished animations truly represented gameplay or were cleverly disguised pre-rendered sequences meant to mislead players.
Some drew particularly harsh comparisons, labeling God Save Birmingham a "fake game" or even a "scam" reminiscent of the notorious The Day Before. For context, The Day Before became one of gaming's most disastrous launches - billed as "the next generation of post-apocalyptic MMO survival games" only to release as a fundamentally broken extraction shooter. It earned IGN's exceptionally rare 1/10 score, with servers shutting down merely four days after its Early Access debut.
Following viral skepticism around April's trailer, Korean publisher Kakao Games and developer Ocean Drive showcased a playable PAX East demo plus updated gameplay footage revealing the project's actual development stage. While this helped counter April's overambitious presentation, lingering "scam game" associations persist.
Determined to address these concerns, I spoke with Ocean Drive CEO Jae Kim and publishing head Jungsoo Lee. Surprisingly, they welcomed comparisons to The Day Before. Keep reading to discover why.
