Highlights
- Rumor suggests that State of Decay 3 may not be released until 2027, indicating a longer development period for the highly anticipated game.
- Previous controversies surrounding Undead Labs and a toxic workplace environment have raised concerns about the studio’s development practices.
- While State of Decay 3’s release may be delayed, Microsoft has a strong lineup of first-party titles set to be released in the coming years, providing variety for gamers.
A new rumor indicates that the upcoming Xbox console exclusive State of Decay 3 could be released only in 2027. State of Decay 3 promises to be the franchise’s biggest entry, and this rumor indicates that such a large-sized game may take a while to be ready.
State of Decay 3 was originally announced in 2020 during the Xbox Games Showcase. Designed by the Microsoft-owned studio Undead Labs, the game was unveiled with a short cinematic trailer and didn’t have much information divulged about it since then, especially concerning its release date.
RELATED: Two Long Awaited Xbox Titles Could Get Gameplay Reveals Sooner Than Expected
Now, a rumor indicates that State of Decay 3 could be aiming for a 2027 release. The information comes from the ArtStation profile of Nora Shramek, who currently works at Undead Labs as the Lightning Lead, and pointed out this date in her work experience. Right now, the original information is unavailable, meaning Shramek deleted it since media outlets started to report on this story. However, it’s impossible to know for sure if this only means that the date was not supposed to be divulged or if the information was wrong. If the information is correct, this means that State of Decay 3 will be released nine years after its predecessor, and seven after the announcement. At the moment, however, Undead Labs has not officially spoken about the rumor, so fans would better await some official information before getting disappointed.
While it’s impossible to say much about State of Decay 3’s development due to Undead Lab’s silence, the studio has been at the center of a controversy regarding a toxic environment before. The accusations came to light back in 2022, as former employees of Undead Labs complained about a toxic workplace environment in which devs became overwhelmed by deadlines and have spoken about cases of sexism, such as women being systematically ignored during decision-making.
State of Decay 3 is a big title for Microsoft, which owns Undead Labs, and this rumor indicates that it may take a while to be released, but this does not mean that Microsoft and its Game Pass service will be short on first-party releases soon. During the recent Xbox Showcase, Microsoft highlighted several first-party titles that will be released in the following years, such as Forza Motorsport, Fable, Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. While none of these games are open-world zombie titles, it’s fair to say that there’s plenty of variety, catering to all kinds of tastes.
State of Decay 3 is currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE: State of Decay 3 Should Avoid Generic Zombie Tropes
Source: ComicBook
