As early as July this year, there was news that Double Fine, Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs studios would leave Xbox. The first two teams on the list went independent a few weeks ago, and now Undead Labs has completed the separation process. In the meantime, the studio will continue to work with Xbox and State of Decay 3 will become part of the Game Pass subscription immediately upon release.
Philip Holt, head of Undead Labs, called what’s happening a “new chapter” in the relationship with Microsoft. He said the independence would allow the team to focus on developing projects and engaging with the community.
Being independent brings us closer to our community and allows us to focus on what really matters: creating better projects and maintaining the support of the people who choose to spend time with us.
Undead Labs is still developing State of Decay 3. The project is currently in the alpha testing stage, and the team plans to enter the internal testing stage before the end of 2026. The first testing began in the spring, and the developers announced in August that the program would be expanded to more players.
State of Decay 3 is still scheduled to be released in 2027. The project will release on Xbox Series X | S, Playstation 5 and PC, and will also be available on Game Pass, which has been separately confirmed by the Xbox team.
