State of Decay 3 got its first look at gameplay during the XBOX Games Showcase, with developer Undead Labs releasing a trailer that runs through open-world exploration, settlement building, weapon crafting, co-op, and a fair amount of zombie combat. The studio confirmed the sequel is still targeting a 2027 release and is being built in Unreal Engine 5, a few years on from the last time it spoke publicly about where the game was headed. Creative director Kevin Patzelt also fielded a long list of questions about the map, combat, multiplayer, and a new enemy type, with an alpha already running and more playtest waves planned through the year.
Patzelt described a playable space roughly four times the size of a single State of Decay 2 map, fully open to players the moment they join. Combat is being reworked on both sides, with the player going from State of Decay 2’s single attack button to a quick attack and a power attack, alongside dodging. On the enemy side, the zombie roster carries over from the previous game but with each type given more distinct behavior, so a slow, decayed walker plays differently from a fresher one or an armored variant.
New to State of Decay 3 are Plague Nests, dynamic enemy hubs that Undead Labs positions as the next step up from State of Decay 2’s Plague Hearts. Patzelt described them as dungeon-like areas that act with their own agenda, sending threats toward a settlement whether or not the player engages, in keeping with the studio’s focus on consequences. Each Nest rolls what the team calls a persona, a behavior set that shifts from one save to the next, with some spreading aggressively and others digging in and growing tougher to bait players closer. Sitting in the most dangerous parts of the map also means the Nests hold some of the best loot, precisely because those areas have gone largely unlooted.
Multiplayer remains a core part of the game, with solo play or shared-world co-op for up to four players and what Undead Labs calls untethered co-op, letting players stick together or break off to chase separate goals. Players can now hold up to three settlements instead of one, tailoring each base toward different priorities like food and water income or stockpiling weapons and explosives. The shared world lets any member of a group make lasting changes to the same save asynchronously, advancing the story or building facilities even when others are offline. Undead Labs is also expanding its Enclave system, the rival NPC groups with their own goals that players can build trust with, ally with, and eventually recruit.
The altered weapons in the trailer tie into a maker culture idea the studio has built around what survivors would scavenge, modify, and repurpose after the apocalypse. Patzelt explained that the timeline plays into it, with the easy pickings from State of Decay 2 like intact golf clubs now broken, nudging players toward homemade gear instead. The serrated machete from the trailer is one example, with other finds adding rebar welded to the blade, and those modifications come with gameplay tradeoffs. A rebar-backed weapon might land better dismemberment, for instance, while costing more stamina to swing, a tradeoff players can choose to take on.
Patzelt noted that the trailer is entirely in-game capture rather than CGI, including the over-the-shoulder shots that reflect the actual playable camera. State of Decay 3 is available to wishlist now ahead of its 2027 launch on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC, with XBOX Play Anywhere support across console and PC and inclusion in XBOX Game Pass. The alpha is already in players’ hands, with beta access set to expand over the year, and anyone interested can join the waitlist through the State of Decay 3 playtest signups.
