In a statement following Xbox’s recent company-wide decisions, Undead Labs has announced that it is continuing to work on State of Decay 3. While the company isn’t quite ready to reveal more details for now, including which company has bought it following its transition out of Xbox, the studio’s statement comes off as quite optimistic.
“Today, Undead Labs begins a new chapter,” wrote the studio. “We’re transitioning out of Xbox, and while we can’t share all the details just yet, we can tell you this: State of Decay 3 is still coming. The team is working hard, and our commitment to this community has never been stronger. More news soon. Survivors stick together.”
The Reddit post where the studio made the statement is overjoyed at the news, welcoming the fact that the studio will continue to work on its zombie apocalypse survival game. Interestingly, some have also expressed disappointment about the idea that future showcases by Xbox will leave them in doubt about whether the game being shown off will come out before the studio in question is sold off or shut down.
Undead Labs is among the two studios that Xbox has confirmed that it is selling off, with the other being Hellblade series developer Ninja Theory. Unfortunately, the latter studio hasn’t yet made any statement regarding the status of its recently announced project, Senua. Two other studios have also been affected by Xbox’s recent moves – Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions. Both have been noted as becoming independent studios.
Compulsion Games even made its own statement recently, confirming that it has retained the rights to its IPs – South of Midnight, Contrast, and We Happy Few. “We’re grateful for the years we spent with Xbox, for the support they provided our team, and for the opportunity to bring these games to players around the world,” wrote the studio on social media.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced layoffs earlier this week, confirming that around 1,600 jobs would be affected. She also noted that there are more layoffs planned over the fiscal year, totalling up to approximately 3,200 jobs by June 30th, 2027.
“I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building Xbox,” she said. “Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved Xbox. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.”
In a follow-up statement, Sharma said that these layoffs happened because Xbox ended up spreading itself too thin with a number of bets and investments it made in the past not paying off.
As for Undead Labs, the studio had said last month that State of Decay 3 will focus on offering a “shared world experience”, with three out of the four playable characters all starting in different locations around the in-game world. This means that the title won’t be a simple ride-along and that players can go off to independently do what they want to a greater degree than State of Decay 2 allowed.
State of Decay 3 is being developed for PC and Xbox Series X/S. It is currently unknown if Undead Labs will also bring it to PS5 following its transition out of Xbox.
