We finally got a good look at the future of State of Decay with a gameplay trailer during the Xbox Showcase. As many fans and I have hoped, State of Decay 3 will have more mayhem, more zombies, and more carnage in our favorite co-op survival game.
There are also a few surprises that I didn’t expect to see.
First, the release date. Considering how long it’s been since State of Decay 3 was first announced, each reveal has left fans wondering when the game will be released. After another trailer last summer and a gameplay test registration earlier this year, we were finally told that 2027 would be the date.
Even if State of Decay 3 could arrive in late 2026, given how crowded the holidays are with the release of GTA VI, choosing a 2027 release with more time to polish makes sense. This seems to be how most advanced teams do this.
Pushing that date back a bit might be the team’s latest platform for development: the PlayStation 5.
Variation will be the basis of each case
In the development blog, they talk about everything except why State of Decay will no longer be available exclusively on Xbox. It seems that many speculated after Asha Sharma’s interview in Bloomberg Tech, that the upcoming games will be chosen on a game-by-game basis, and State of Decay 3 is one of those games that are not exclusive.
Perhaps the cooperative aspect, where players and communities come together to survive the wasteland of post-apocalypse zombie hordes. Community-style online games may live on all platforms, but why does a game like Gears of War: E-Day remain so special? Who knows!
More answers about State of Decay 3
Referring again to Xbox Wire’s post about State of Decay 3, we find many questions answered about the upcoming title.
First, the weapons will come in different variants:
“So, you see in the trailer, you have a machete that now has a red blade. Like the golf club example, all the machetes you can find at the hardware store are broken. Now you can find modified weapons in the world that incorporate this concept of the maker’s culture. Some machetes are homemade with a sharp edge of steel on the back, one of the two machetes on the back! My first favorite ideas were a cutting weapon, but you might think, “Boy I’d like more weight so that we can be better determined.“
Undead Labs is also introducing Plague Nests, a new type of highly dangerous loot for players to take part in:
“They represent some of the most dangerous places, but because they’ve been dangerous for so long, they haven’t been looted like other places. So, they have the best loot, but the most vulnerable.”
No two Plague Nests will be the same, or at least, in performance: “Hives also have many ways to behave and grow. We call them people, where every time you take it out, it may take a different form, a different set of behaviors, a different approach to you. This will keep things fresh not only during play, but save to save – no two saves will play the same way.”
State of Decay 3 will come with a huge world map that will be four times bigger than the previous State of Decay 2’s playing area. With more worlds available after launch, expect each map to be highly replayable given the size.
Not to mention, one of my favorite features from Grounded will be coming to State of Decay in the form of shared worlds. Individual players will be able to access game saves, regardless of whether one person is online or not. You won’t need an online host all the time!
Instead, when someone opens the game, you’ll start holding a session with the latest save, where others can join dynamically. If the host leaves, the game master changes, and if they all leave, the latest save is updated, and any one person in that save can start over at any time.
Be sure to come back as we unveil more about State of Decay 3 in the coming days! State of Decay 3 will launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.
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