Microsoft Confirms Its Intentions To Make State of Decay 3

If you're fan of Undead Labs' State of Decay series, I have some good news for you: Microsoft [...]

state of decay 2 head pop
(Photo: Undead Labs)

If you're fan of Undead Labs' State of Decay series, I have some good news for you: Microsoft wants to make a third game.

This week Microsoft announced the acquisition of four new studios, one of which was Seattle-based developer Undead Labs, who has had a 2nd-party partnership with Microsoft the past few years that have resulted in State of Decay and State of Decay 2.

Speaking to Eggplante, Microsoft Studios head Matt Booty confirmed Microsoft's desire to continue the action-adventure survival horror series, going as far as calling Undead Labs "a State of Decay team."

Additionally, Booty also suggests that Undead Labs -- now equipped with resources thanks to being a part of the Microsoft family -- will finally get the chance to create the bigger, MMO-style game it originally envisioned for the series.

"In the case of Undead Labs, we absolutely want to go make State of Decay 3," said Booty."That is a clear goal. That studio will have some other incubation, they'll work on some things, but this is a State of Decay 3 team.

"When we first started working on State of Decay, we had a much bigger game, a much more persistent online game, and I know that Undead Labs will get there eventually, but by bringing them into the Microsoft family. I think we're able to accelerate that and get us there sooner which is great."

The running theme with both State of Decay and its sequel has been potential undermined by execution. Neither game looks or runs well compared to competition, and sometimes even feels more akin to an ambitious AA game than a properly polished AAA game. That said, both games command a large following, and both have sold well, despite not posting the greatest critical scores.

What will be interesting to see is if with more resources and Microsoft even further backing it, can Undead Labs iron out the performance issues, bugs, and visual shortcomings? If it can do this all while evolving the series into something bigger, it surely will have a bright future under the Microsoft umbrella.

Are we looking at Microsoft's next one game studio? Perhaps.

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