Why the Developers Behind God Save Birmingham Are Perfectly Happy With Comparisons to 'Scam' Game The Day Before

The medieval zombie survival game *God Save Birmingham* made a dramatic entrance in April with an 8-minute “gameplay” trailer that generated both buzz and doubt. While its unique Birmingham setting inspired jokes, many questioned the authenticity of what they were seeing. The trailer’s polished animations raised eyebrows, leading some to speculate whether it was actual gameplay or instead pre-rendered footage crafted to mislead players and media alike.

More seriously, comparisons quickly emerged between *God Save Birmingham* and the notorious *The Day Before*, a title that infamously imploded upon release. For those unfamiliar, *The Day Before* was marketed as the "next generation of post-apocalyptic MMO open-world survival games," but launched as a glitch-ridden, barebones extraction shooter. It received an extremely rare 1/10 from IGN, and its servers were shut down just four days after Early Access launch. As a result, labeling a new title as similar can be damaging—yet for *God Save Birmingham*, these claims have stuck.

Following the viral reaction to its April reveal, Korean publisher Kakao Games and development studio Ocean Drive responded by showcasing a playable demo at PAX East and releasing an updated gameplay video. This newer footage offered a more grounded look at the game’s current state, helping to temper some of the initial skepticism. Despite this, the shadow of *The Day Before* continues to loom large over *God Save Birmingham*.

With this context in mind, I sat down with Ocean Drive CEO and founder Jae Kim and head of publishing Jungsoo Lee to explore whether *God Save Birmingham* could ever fully escape the stigma of being labeled a “scam.” Surprisingly, both expressed no concern over the comparison—and in fact, seemed comfortable with it. Read on to discover why.