State of Decay 3 Planned for 2027 Following Studio Separation From Xbox

Undead Labs has announced that a closed State of Decay 3 beta is scheduled to take place before the end of the year. The upcoming playtest announcement arrives just weeks after the studio separated from Xbox, marking Undead Labs' first major update since parting ways with its former owner following Microsoft's sweeping round of layoffs that cut 1,600 jobs and split from four first-party developers.

According to creative director Kevin Patzelt, the studio is expanding its testing phases to include more players over time. "This is our largest map ever and with untethered multiplayer, we really need to take the opportunities to stress-test and fine-tune," Patzelt stated in an Xbox Wire blog post. Previous closed alpha playtests began in April, giving developers useful insight into combat balancing for co-op sessions and the implementation of the series' permadeath feature. Testers praised the game's improved lighting, character customization, and updated mutated freak zombies.

Players can register their interest for the upcoming closed beta ahead of the game's official launch in 2027. State of Decay 3 is slated to release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. However, it remains unclear whether the title will still launch into Xbox Game Pass on day one, and the identity of Undead Labs' new mystery buyer has not yet been publicly revealed.