Undead Labs reveals that State of Decay 3 isn't in full development, suggesting that fans could be waiting quite some time before they get to play it. The developer announced State of Decay 3 with a new trailer shown as part of the Xbox Games Showcase event.
In a post to the official State of Decay Twitter, State of Decay 3 developer Undead Labs said that while it is "excited about the announcement of the new game," it is only in "early pre-production." The developer also said that it is "looking forward to having more to share in the future" but didn't say when the next announcement for the game would come.
Being in early pre-production means that the game hasn't entered development is a long way off from release. Typically, pre-production is where game development teams decide what the game will look like, which features it will have, and when each feature is expected to be ready. Undead Labs will likely be using this time to decide which enemies will be coming back, whether fans will see things like a new version of the juggernauts, and what the game world will look like.
The only thing that fans really know is that State of Decay 3 will be Optimized for Xbox Series X. The Optimized for Xbox Series X label means that the game will be available in 4K, will have faster loading times, and will support up to 120 frames per second.
Like all of the games shown as part of the Xbox Games Showcase, State of Decay 3 will also be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch. This isn't hugely surprising information as Undead Labs became a first-party Xbox studio in 2018, but subscribers will be glad to know that they'll be able to play the game at launch, whenever it comes out.
Fans may be disappointed that they'll have to wait longer to play State of Decay 3, but it will give Undead Labs more time to fix some of the things that were criticized about State of Decay 2. The game's story was heavily criticized and critics felt that Undead Labs hadn't given fans enough reason to care about the playable characters. It would also allow Undead Labs to make a game that looks as good as that State of Decay 3 trailer, which would be difficult, but with the Xbox Series X, it is something that the development team could potentially create.
State of Decay 3 is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.