Earlier today, Microsoft announced a Collector's Edition for State of Decay 2 that will retail for $69.99. The State of Decay 2 Collector's Edition will come with a number of goodies for hardcore fans of the series, but anyone planning to pick it up should note that it doesn't come with the game itself.

Collector's Editions that don't include the game are becoming more common nowadays, and unfortunately it means anyone interested in what State of Decay 2's CE has to offer will still need to purchase the game separately. We learned recently that State of Decay 2 will release with a budget price of $29.99, so that softens the blow a bit, but even so, fans can expect to spend a minimum of $100 if they want the CE and the base game.

Having said that, there is a way for fans to buy the CE and then access State of Decay 2 digitally without having to actually buy the game. That's thanks to Xbox Game Pass, which, starting with this month's Sea of Thieves, will offer first-party games on day one. Considering this, the $69.99 Collector's Edition not coming with the game may not make fans as upset as it would have otherwise.

So now that fans know that the State of Decay 2 Collector's Edition doesn't come with the game, they have to decide if the goodies on offer are worth the investment. The State of Decay 2 Collector's Edition comes with a latex zombie mask, a steelbook case (to house the game that must be purchased separately), a human brain steelbook stand, a 4GB USB severed thumb drive, and an iron-on patch with the game's logo on it.

Overall, it sounds like this package will only appeal to collectors or those that consider themselves hardcore fans of State of Decay. However, if the game itself was included in the Collector's Edition, it's possible that even more people would have been tempted to pick it up.

State of Decay 2 will launch on May 22 for PC and Xbox One.