State of Decay 3 was first announced four years ago during the 2020 Xbox Games Showcase. There"s been little to no info on the next game in the zombie-themed survival game series from developer Undead Labs since then. Today, during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, we got a new trailer with a mix of in-game and cinematic footage, along with some concrete info on the title.
The Xbox Wire site is the source of the info on the game. State of Decay 3 will take place in a much larger open world compared to the first two games in the series. In fact, Undead Labs has collaborated with another Microsoft-owned developer, Obsidian Entertainment, on the new shared world features.
The team has also received some assistance from The Coalition, the Gears of War developer, on how to use Unreal Engine 5, which will be used in State of Decay 3. Two other development teams, Blind Squirrel Entertainment and Wushu Studios, are also working on the game.
The article also reveals info about the game"s combat systems from Undead Labs" Creative Director Kevin Patzelt. He states:
“We’re heavily emphasizing engaging co-op combat, taking a close look at our level design and approach to how we’re building the world to ensure that players can have a blast smashing and shooting zombies together out in the open world,” details Patzelt. “To support that effort, combat needs to be downright fun. We’re looking at deepening our combat systems, our designs for enemy behaviors, and our animation fidelity to level up the moment-to-moment experience across the board.”
State of Decay 3 will also take place a number of years after the first two games, so its zombies will appear to be more decayed than in the earlier titles. Players will also have more customization and crafting features for their weapons, clothes, and more.
Unfortunately, there"s no launch date yet for State of Decay 3, so it looks like we will still have a while before it is released.