The State of Decay games have been one of Xbox's exclusives for some time now, and the third iteration of the series was announced last year during the Xbox Games Showcase event. Developer Undead Labs' previous installments of this series have mostly been well received, though the second game had an underwhelming launch which has been drastically improved by continuous content updates.
Since the announcement of the third game, fans are clamoring to know more about the game, as well as its release date. While much isn't known about what State of Decay 3 beholds, there's quite a bit of information that can help predict a release window for the game.
About State of Decay 3's Development
The development cycle for State of Decay 3, in particular, is an interesting one. Much isn't known officially, except that the game was in the early pre-production stages when it was announced in July last year. This was speculated before by fans, and Undead Labs quickly responded with a tweet stating the case to true. Since this game is supposed to come out exclusively on the next generation of consoles, it isn't reasonable to expect it to drop too soon.
In addition to this, Undead Labs was acquired by Microsoft after the second game's release. Since then, fans were eager to know about what the studio was planning on next, and how the acquisition would improve future games. Prior to the showcase, Undead Labs opened a second studio in New Orleans in December of 2019 which indicates the increase in the team's size, indirectly but potentially pointing at a game of a grander scale.
While much isn't known about the game itself at this point in time, it looks to be a departure from ensuring the survival of a community to ensuring one's own survival. The world looks to be more brutal than the previous game, and the game's announcement trailer portrays that beautifully with its cinematics. Animals, both live and infected, are one of the many new additions in State of Decay 3 that have caught the attention of many fans.
When Could It Release?
Since much isn't known about what State of Decay 3 will exactly feature and exactly at what stage its development is at currently, predicting such a thing is very difficult. Considering the gap between the first 2 games was almost 5 years, it puts the next game's release window to be around the Q1 or Q2 2023.
Another interesting point here is the increase in the resources that the team has at its disposal, as the second studio would probably help quite a bit in development. But, another thing to keep in mind is the increase in the scope of the game, and how much of the formula would be changed or iterated upon. Anything that turns out to be true could tip the scales in favor of an earlier or a later release window respectively. Microsoft seems to be having a strong lineup of future games, with titles like Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 and Everwild in the works. Since games such as The Elder Scrolls 6 and Avowed are quite some ways off, a 2023 release window seems to be a comfortable time for State of Decay 3 to make an appearance.
State of Decay 3 is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.