State Of Decay 3 - Everything We Know About The Zombie Game

The first State of Decay game came out all the way back in 2013, and the franchise is still growing. Following 2018's sequel, State of Decay 2, a third game is now in the works for Xbox and PC.

The biggest piece of news of late on State of Decay 3 is that it's ramping up production, as developer Undead Labs winds down development on State of Decay 2 and shifts to the third game. Here in this post, we're rounding up everything we know about State of Decay 3.

When will State of Decay 3 release?

State of Decay 3 was announced back in 2020 but still does not have a release date. In fact, Undead Labs and Microsoft have not said much at all about the game.

State of Decay 3 trailer

The first state of State of Decay 3 trailer was released in 2020. The cinematic trailer showed a character tracking an animal's blood trail through the snow, only to discover a zombified deer. Pretty scary stuff! A second trailer, which debuted in 2024, showed off more of the game's world, but was again only a (very impressive-looking!) cinematic trailer and did not contain any gameplay footage.

You can watch both trailers below.

Preorder State of Decay 3

State of Decay 3 is not available for preorder. Game Pass Ultimate members will be able to play State of Decay 3 at launch for free as a perk of their subscription.

State of Decay 3 platforms

State of Decay and State of Decay 2 were exclusive on console to Xbox (and also released on PC), and State of Decay 3 is likely to follow a similar rollout. Microsoft acquired Undead Labs after the launch of State of Decay 2, further bolstering the theory that it will remain a console exclusive to Xbox. Microsoft is bringing some of its games to PlayStation of late, but nothing has been confirmed for State of Decay 3.

What we know about State of Decay 3

Following State of Decay 3's announcement in 2020, Microsoft and Undead Labs stayed pretty quiet on the game. That's largely remained the status quo since, but a major development came in September 2024 when Undead Labs said it was winding down development on State of Decay 2 so its team members could shift to State of Decay 3.

"Our ambition is to make the greatest zombie survival sim in the franchise, and to do so, we'll be shifting our focus and resources to making the upcoming third installment, State of Decay 3," Undead Labs said.

Many are naturally wondering when State of Decay 3 will come out, but Undead Labs isn't ready to say just yet, saying more information will come "at a later time."

"Thank you for your continued support and for being the greatest gaming community there is. We’re excited to devote ourselves to making the next game even better," the studio said.

A 2024 dev diary published on October 31 offered some behind-the-scenes insight into State of Decay 3 and the studio behind it. Among other things, the video confirms that State of Decay and State of Decay 2 were made by relatively small teams, but State of Decay 3 has a much larger studio size.

In 2022, Kotaku published a report detailing alleged controversies within the studio, including allegations of sexism, bullying, and burnout. The report detailed how Microsoft's acquisition of Undead Labs was reportedly "hampered by toxic workplace conditions and lack of direction." In response, Xbox's Matt Booty said, "Undead Labs has seen a number of positive changes and we are confident in the direction the team is taking State of Decay 3, one of our most ambitious open-world games in development."