We're going through a very 'British heatwave' right now here in the UK (meaning it's vaguely warm and the sun's out a bit), and weirdly, such unbearable heat is taking me back to summer 2013 - when I had an old Xbox 360 struggling on as the Xbox One generation fast approached. Lots of late Xbox 360 era titles were really putting my poor old machine through its paces that summer, with the original State of Decay being a particularly harsh offender.
At the time, it felt like a game me and my friends had been waiting ages for, and when it did arrive, I really enjoyed my time with it despite the game almost melting my Xbox 360. The hype for The Walking Dead was at fever pitch back then, and State of Decay really did scratch that zombie apocalypse survival itch.
I remember it taking up tons of my gaming time during the 360's final few months as the current-gen Xbox console, which means that yep, State of Decay is now over 10 years old having launched back in June 2013. And you know what, I'm super excited to see what's next from developer Undead Labs.
I must admit, I didn't really get around to much State of Decay 2. It launched at a busy time when all I could think about was Sony's God of War reboot, and I just never came back to it with late 2018 also delivering a few bangers such as Forza Horizon 4 and of course, Red Dead Redemption 2. It probably didn't help that while SoD2 appeared to be shaping up pretty well, it very much looked like more State of Decay that wasn't doing anything particularly new aside from the addition of co-op.
And that brings me onto State of Decay 3, which I'm very excited for. Revealed way back in 2020 (yes, three years ago!), we haven't seen much on the upcoming sequel yet - in fact, we've seen nothing at all really. But, the promise of a more fleshed out, AAA version of that 2013 Xbox Live Arcade game I enjoyed so much is something I'm well up for.
It seems I'm not the only one either. Last year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioned that State of Decay 3 is one of the games he's most excited for in Xbox's upcoming lineup. I'm not sure I'd go that far personally, but for reasons similar to what Phil expressed, I do think it's going to be one to watch from Xbox Game Studios.
Around that same time in 2022 we did hear of some damning reports about Undead Labs and the game being stuck in pre-production, but I'm hoping that's all been smoothed over by now and the game is back on track. After all, Xbox's Matt Booty did recently say that we could be seeing an in-depth look at State of Decay 3 pretty soon.
Another studio I'm keen to hear more from is The Coalition - Gears of War is right up there as an Xbox franchise for me. And while we've not heard a peep on 'Gears 6' yet, we know the team is helping Undead Labs with State of Decay 3's Unreal Engine 5 development, which is fantastic news based on what the Gears dev has produced in recent years.
Anyway, I hope State of Decay enjoys being 10 years of age, despite almost killing off my aging Xbox 360 way back when. As for State of Decay 3, I'm really, really looking forward to a look at gameplay - hopefully sooner rather than later!
Is SoD3 high up on your most anticipated list for Xbox? Let us know your State of Decay memories down below!
Comments 16
Definitely one of my most anticipated games for sure. Zombies, Survival, base building, resource gathering, crafting etc etc. all the ingredients for a great game. I loved SOD2 but there wasn’t much story and the characters were very ‘nothing’. I hope each survivor has a back story with a bigger pool of skills. I’d also like to see training facilities to be able to train and swap out certain skill sets
I was really hoping we'd see what Undead Labs is doing with the SoD3. This franchise has so much potential. I was a bit disappointed not seeing it in the showcase but we can't have everything in one showcase. I hope they're doing an amazing job with the sequel and blows this overused zombie genre to new height.
State of Decay 1 is a very rough and frustrating game but the updated 2 became one of the best games of the generation on any console. Now, they're trying to do a big thing with 3 after all the love and support that the second game received from developers and players.
I loved the 2nd one, really hope the 3rd comes out soon.
SoD was great despite its flaws. SoD2 started rough but is polished and still supported by devs. When I think of SoD3 I just play DaysGone. Lol.
SoD2 had a ton of promise but could have been so much more. The coop was just too underbaked. I like the ideas theyve thrown at the game with the Heartland expansion and the most recent update. Very much looking forward to SoD3.
I love how much they are supporting 2, reworking every element until it shines but it can't bode well for 3 releasing anytime soon.
I didnt like state of decay 2 as much as the original state of decay.
SOD2 had no story where as the original had a story and sorry i need a story in my games
Hope it has more of a campaign
I am REALLY looking forward to this one, put a fair few hours into State Of Decay 2. Was a bit upset they didn’t show anything at their show the other day.
I own both SoD games and they have both fallen victim to the dreaded backlog. I’m hoping to spend at least a little time with part 2 before part 3 comes out…I’ve heard the first is a little rough around the edges.
Here is my gift to all journalists who overuse the adjective "super"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/super
Happy Anniversary SOD
State of Decay 2 could hit several Top 10 most underrated games of history.
I want to play the next entry, and I'm enjoying the time UL is taking to make it a great game. I think we will see it in 2025.
State of Decay 2 is one of my favorite games of the Xbox One generation. It's been improved so much that it became some sort of cult classic.
My only fear for State of Decay 3 is that it becomes some sort of live service game, full of microtransactions. SoD 2 shows a lot of potential for monetization, but thankfully Undead Labs has been giving us everything for free. With a AAA version coming, that could be a different story...
@Thumper To be fair, on Pure Xbox, only Ben overuses "super" and exclamation marks 😜.
@Wheatly State of Decay 2 is a hit. It was one of the first Xbox One games to quickly reach several millions of players.
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