Development record
State of Decay 3 News and Development Timeline
Latest: Undead Labs independent since September 22, 2026
State of Decay 3 was announced in July 2020 with a concept trailer, resurfaced with an in-engine trailer in June 2024, opened playtest sign-ups in April 2026 and showed its first gameplay on June 7, 2026. A closed beta is planned before the end of 2026, and launch is targeted for 2027.
The biggest recent change happened off-screen: in September 2026 Undead Labs left Xbox and became an independent, employee-owned studio. The move changes who publishes the game, not the plan: the platforms, Game Pass on day one and the 2027 target all still stand.
Development timeline
Thirteen dated events, oldest first. Jump to a year, or follow the line from the first teaser to the 2027 target.
Announced at the Xbox Games Showcase
A pre-rendered concept trailer introduces State of Decay 3 as the next evolution of the series and promises Game Pass on day one.
Read moreSecond trailer, built from in-game assets
The 2024 Xbox Games Showcase trailer debuts the new Undead Labs logo, four player characters and a Screamer with molten lungs.
Read moreDev diary on the studio's new era
Undead Labs explains its new identity; the team is now about six times the size it was for the first State of Decay.
Read morePlaytest sign-ups open
Registration opens at playtest.stateofdecay.com alongside the Alpha Announce video fronted by Brant Fitzgerald.
Read moreNo zombie animals
The 2020 trailer is confirmed as a concept piece only, and zombie animals are ruled out of the game.
Read moreFirst alpha wave goes live
A deliberately small group of invited players starts testing the game.
Read morePlayer Council weekend
Council members spend a weekend at Undead Labs in Seattle, ending with a showcase viewing party.
Read moreFirst gameplay reveal
The Xbox Games Showcase premieres the first gameplay trailer and announces the 2027 window and a PlayStation 5 version.
Read moreClosed beta announced
Closed betas are confirmed for later in the year, bringing in more players and platforms.
Read moreGamescom hands-on sessions
Press play an early PC build with three settlements, evolving traits and Plague Heart raids.
Read moreUndead Labs becomes independent
The studio separates from Xbox as an employee-owned company; the game gets a new publisher but stays day one on Game Pass, and layoffs follow.
Read moreClosed beta window
The planned slot for the first closed beta playtests ahead of launch.
Read moreTargeted launch
Release on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox Cloud and PlayStation 5, day one on Game Pass.
Read moreUndead Labs goes independent
On September 22, 2026 Undead Labs completed its separation from Xbox and now operates as an independent, employee-owned studio. The move came as part of a wider Xbox reorganisation announced the same day, in which Microsoft's gaming division cut 268 roles and restructured several studios. Its terms are similar to those agreed with Compulsion Games and Double Fine.
The relationship goes back a long way. The first State of Decay launched in partnership with Microsoft in 2013, and Microsoft acquired the studio in 2018, which is why every State of Decay game so far has been an Xbox title. Until the new publisher is named, Xbox Game Studios remains the publisher of record, with Microsoft Corporation on PlayStation.
The split was not painless. A significant number of developers left the studio in the separation, though development of State of Decay 3 continues.
What the split changes for players
Less than you might fear. State of Decay 3 will release with a new publisher and still arrive day one on Game Pass. The rest of the plan is unchanged: the game is in alpha, the closed beta is still due before the end of 2026, and release is targeted for 2027 on Xbox, Game Pass, PC and PlayStation.
Two things are still open. The new publisher has not been named, and nobody has said whether the change affects price, editions or the PlayStation release. Until those details arrive, the platform list, the Game Pass commitment and the 2027 target are the facts to plan around.
If you are waiting on either detail, follow the official State of Decay channels on Discord, X, Facebook and Instagram, where the publisher announcement and the closed beta dates will land first.
The 2020 announcement trailer
The first trailer set expectations the game later had to manage. It showed a lone figure crossing a snowy forest and an infected deer, and many players took it as a promise of zombie animals. The video was in fact a pre-rendered concept, made with Blur Studio while only four or five people worked on the project and the game was still mostly a document.
The 2020 concept trailer's lone figure crossing a snowy forest river.
Channel
XBOX
Published
July 23, 2020
Length
1:37
Format
Pre-rendered concept trailer
The deer is the part to forget: there are no zombie animals in State of Decay 3. Everything shown since the 2024 trailer comes from the game itself, and the 2026 gameplay reveal was captured entirely in-engine.
The 2024 dev diary
Released on October 31, 2024, the dev diary is the studio's own account of the period between the two trailers. It introduces the new Undead Labs logo, first seen at the start of the 2024 trailer, and a new website, and it describes a studio that has grown to around six times the size it was when it made the first State of Decay.
Channel
State Of Decay
Published
October 31, 2024
Length
5:30
Format
Studio dev diary
The same period brought outside help. The Coalition assisted with Unreal Engine 5, Blind Squirrel Entertainment and Wushu Studios joined as co-development partners, and Obsidian Entertainment worked with Undead Labs on the shared world.