If there was any worry about the future of State of Decay 3 and Undead Labs after this past summer’s break-up from Xbox, that’s been put to bed. Not only have Undead Labs announced the registrations for the game’s closed beta (which you can head here to sign up), but have also dropped nearly seven minutes of alpha gameplay footage at Gamescom (courtesy of GameSpot).
“We’re going to be expanding our alpha and then closed beta to more players over time, this is our largest map ever and with untethered multiplayer, we really need to take the opportunities to stress-test and fine-tune,” said Kevin Patzelt, Creative Director at Undead Labs. Patzelt added that if you don’t get in this first round of sign-ups, rest assured that there will be more opportunities throughout the year for players to join in.
According to the announcement, the each playtest is designed to feed directly back into the game’s development. That includes things such as balancing co-op combat encounters, to fine-tuning how the game’s new permadeath system affects remaining players. In particular, the game’s narrative systems are being developed to cater to the permadeath mechanic, making a player’s death “actually means something” for the rest of the survivors.
State of Decay 3 will launch in 2027 on the Xbox Series, PC via the Microsoft Store and Steam, Xbox Game Pass, and the PlayStation 5.