State Of Decay 3 - What We Know So Far

As announced during the July Xbox Games Showcase, a sequel to the open-world zombie survival game series State of Decay is on its way.

This is no surprise to fans of the franchise, who've been hoping for a followup since State of Decay 2 came out in 2018 from developer Undead Labs. Rumors have popped up here and there to add credence to that idea, too. Unfortunately, the new teaser for the game was just a short cinematic trailer and offered more in the way of hype than content, but confirmation that the game is coming is a good thing.

The showcase featured a little information about a lot of different games, but Microsoft has promised that more about the titles featured is forthcoming. Fans of State of Decay can only hope that's true, and that they'll see many more zombie deer — and maybe even more sinister creatures — in the months to come.

Here's what Microsoft and Undead Labs have established so far about State of Decay 3.

No release date has been set for State of Decay 3 yet. The cinematic trailer reveals almost nothing, perhaps implying development of the game is still in its early stages. Given that, this might not be a title that will be available when the Xbox Series X launches.

The announcement of the new installment in the series caught some fans by surprise despite the rumors, as Undead Labs has been churning out substantial DLC regularly for State of Decay 2. There are currently three downloadable content packs for State of Decay 2: Independence Pack, Daybreak Pack, the story-based Heartland, as well as the Juggernaut Edition, which comes bundled with the trio. The Juggernaut Edition came out on March 13, so players have been wondering when the developer even had the time to start working on a new entry.

Given this evidence, State of Decay 3 might take a while to finally come out. That gives fans plenty of time to save up for the Xbox Series X, right?

The short announcement trailer doesn't show much, but it does give out one strong message — Undead Labs is listening to its fans. The possibilities of adding live animals in the games has been discussed for ages: people have frequently talked about the subject on online forums such as Reddit and speculated how animals would work in this zombie-infested world. It seems few players were expecting a super scary wolf-eating deer, though.

Weather has also frequently made wishlists — people seem to think adding snow and other effects would bring new challenges and interest to the stealth and survival aspects of State of Decay's setting. However, the trailer doesn't truly reveal exactly how snow might affect the gameplay. Honestly, these two new revelations bring up more questions than they answer.

This teaser also reveals another surprise: a solo survivor! At least, it seems like the character is going it alone, which is something that's pretty tough to do in a game that's all about community survival tactics.

Microsoft acquired Undead Labs in 2018 after an eight-year partnership. That means State of Decay 3 is going to be an Xbox Series X console exclusive, although it will also be available for Windows.

State of Decay 3 will also be available through Xbox Game Pass, which Microsoft is pushing as a way of getting access to many of its upcoming premium games with a small monthly subscription fee. The Xbox Game Pass is available both for PC gamers and console users for $4.99 and $9.99 per month respectively. The Xbox Ultimate Game Pass, which costs $14.99 a month, includes an Xbox Live Gold Subscription as well.

In fact, all the titles announced at the Xbox Games Showcase will be available at launch via the Xbox Game Pass, which makes it a game changer if you're looking for something akin to a Netflix for gamers.