Undead Labs is sharing some interesting insights into State of Decay 3’s incredible showing in the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.
State of Decay is commonly regarded as a lesser franchise for Xbox. While no one doubts Undead Labs makes good work, the first two games in the franchise haven’t reached the heights that Halo or Gears of War did for Microsoft.
Part of this is scale, as the first two games did not have the same production values as Microsoft’s marquee franchises. The first State of Decay was literally an Xbox Live Arcade game on Xbox 360. While it obviously had more going for it than the average XBLA title, as a fully 3D zombie survival title, there was a limit to how much Undead Labs could put into it.
State of Decay 2 was the odd OK game on the Xbox One. Critics did praise its combat and difficulty systems. However, it also received criticism for its technical issues. And that was something Undead Labs worked on for the last six years.
State of Decay 3 has obviously turned out differently, with a very impressive trailer telling a dramatic story worthy of a The Walking Dead episode. In an Xbox Wire post, Undead Labs revealed the extent of their technical achievement on this game, and this may sound very familiar.
Studio Head and Head of Product Philip Holt said this:
“It’s all in-game assets, all rendered from the game, and it’s a depiction of a typical scene that you would encounter in a four-player co-op session. We wanted to give you a representative feel of what the game would be like, but also tell a story.”
If you were wondering, yes, this is more or less the same thing that Microsoft Game Studios was able to accomplish with the trailer for Gears of War: E-Day. And it’s very similar to what people have said about the visuals and performance of Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga.
So you can probably guess what we’re about to reveal here. Yes, Undead Labs received help from The Coalition to optimize their use of Unreal Engine 5 in this game. It’s just apparent that State of Decay 3 is the best looking game in the franchise, and at a clear gap from the other games before it.
It’s a clear indication that The Coalition is stepping up, to perhaps be like Xbox’s own Santa Monica Studio. Their work has already demonstrably made at least one released game meet its full technical potential, and we can expect to see the same for these and other Xbox titles in the future too.
