State of Decay 3 lives. The zombie survival crafting sequel from Undead Labs just announced its first alpha playtest as it looks to get feedback on the game it’s been working on for over six years now.
“Starting next month, we’ll be hosting a series of alpha playtests with the community,” franchise co-creator Brant Fitzgerald said in a new YouTube video. “Listen, I’m not going to spoil the surprise for you, but I can say that it will feature 4-player co-op, some new base building and resource strategies, and a whole lot of combat. If scavenging supplies in the middle of a zombie outbreak sounds fun to you, then grab your ruck, pack some mags, and head over to our website to find more information and register for a chance to be included in the alpha.”
First revealed back during Xbox’s 2020 summer showcase, State of Decay 3 has proved an unwieldy project for the Seattle-based studio to wrangle as it tries to expand on the ambition of the last game while improving on all of the things fans want to carry over from its multiplayer sandbox. The game reappeared during Microsoft’s 2024 summer showcase, but there has been no public update on the state of the game in the years since.
“We’ve been keeping a close eye on what you liked about State of Decay 2 and what you didn’t,” Fitzgerald said in today’s video. “We’ve read your feedback on Discord. We’ve watched your gameplay clips and live streams on YouTube. And through it all we’ve seen how powerful and tight-knit this community is. And that’s all you got to do, guys. It became clear the community is survival and that we need your help. And if you’ve made it this far, great.”
The project has remained in development all these years even as many others across Microsoft’s publishing portfolio have been cut. While an alpha test might indicate that State of Decay 3 is finally getting closer to launch, it could also indicate that Undead Labs is learning the lessons of lots of lots of other recent live-service fumbles and trying to get what it has into players’ hands as soon as possible so it can course-correct as needed. We’ll see if a bigger reveal pops up at Xbox’s recently confirmed June gaming showcase.
