State of Decay Dev Announcing New Game Monday With "No Zombies, No Microsoft"

Acclaimed zombie game State of Decay developer Undead Labs will announce a new game on Monday, but this project is not exactly following in the footsteps of the the studio's most recent work.

In a series of tweets, Undead Labs offered up a tease for what form this new game might take. First, the game has nothing to do with zombies. "Like, not at all a zombie game," Undead Labs wrote. In addition, this new project will not be published by Microsoft, which handled the million-selling Xbox 360/PC version of State of Decay.

That's not to say there is any ill will between Undead Labs and Microsoft, the developer was quick to point out. "Still VERY happily partnered with [Microsoft] for State of Decay games," Undead Labs said. Beyond those details, Undead Labs wasn't willing to share more. "No zombies, no Microsoft. AND NO MORE HINTS."

Undead Labs also pointed out that just because the studio is announcing a new game soon, it doesn't mean State of Decay will suffer as a result. "Apropos of nothing, did you know that a studio can make more than one game at once?" This statement may be "apropos of nothing," but it comes after a dramatic series of events where a developer was criticized for just such a move.

Last week, Rust developer Facepunch Studios announced a new game, Riftlight, and some fans immediately blasted the developer for revealing a new game before Rust--available as an in-development game through Steam Early Access--is even "finished." Facepunch has since issued a statement addressing the criticism, saying that it's not out of the ordinary for studios to work on multiple game simultaneously, and that development on Rust is unaffected.

Though Undead Labs' next game won't have zombies, the developer teased that "the future for our zombies is assured." In January, Undead Labs signed a multi-year, multi-title deal with Microsoft, leading some people to believe a version of State of Decay for Xbox One was in the works. While Undead Labs has not officially announced any of these projects, the developer just this week revealed that author J.L. Bourne (Day by Day Armageddon) will be involved with the future of State of Decay in some way.