After nearly two years of silence, Undead Labs shared news about the development of State of Decay 3. The developers announced the start of alpha testing, which will begin next month — registration to participate is open.
Co-founder of the franchise Brant Fitzgerald reported that players can expect a four-person co-op, updated base building and resource management mechanics, as well as a more intense combat system. To participate, you must register via Discord and email. The number of places is limited, but additional testing phases are planned during the year.
According to the developers, in the coming months the team will actively share new details, talking about the progress of development, innovations and opportunities to get into alpha testing.
The game was announced back in 2020, when the project was in the early stages of pre-production.
The development faced difficulties: the project slowed down after accusations of a toxic work environment and discrimination, and Microsoft was criticized for not reacting quickly enough to employee complaints. In addition, the studio experienced layoffs last year.
Despite this, a new in-engine trailer was presented in 2024, and support for State of Decay 2 was discontinued to focus on the sequel. Head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan noted that development is "going very well".