Community is Survival

State of Decay 3 Wiki

Lead a community of survivors through a world still gripped by blood plague, alone or with up to three friends.

Targeted for release in 2027; exact date not announced.

Join the playtest Free waitlist; invites go out by email in waves Plague Nests explained How hearts, linked sites and personas feed the new enemy hubs

State of Decay 3 key art showing a hulking pale infected with glowing eyes against a red backdrop — Official key art: a hulking, pale infected against a blood-red sky.

Plague Nests Understand and plan against Plague Nests Nests sit at the centre of a network of Plague Hearts and infested sites, grow while your community grows and push zombies toward your settlements. Threatened hearts call in Juggernauts Zombies & Freaks Identify every zombie and freak type Desiccated, fresh and armored zombies now behave differently, and the Bloater, Feral, Screamer and Juggernaut each change how a fight plays out. A Molotov ignites Bloater bile Co-op Play together or alone in a shared world Up to four players share one untethered world and can keep building on the same save while the others are offline. Solo play covers the whole game Playtest Join the playtest and follow its waves Sign-ups have been open since April 3, 2026; alpha waves ran through the summer and a closed beta is planned before the end of 2026. Registration is free

What State of Decay 3 is

State of Decay 3 is the third main game in Undead Labs' zombie survival series. Years after an outbreak that nearly wiped out humankind, you lead a community of ordinary survivors through a world still gripped by blood plague. It is a survival sandbox: an open world where you scavenge for food, water, ammunition and medicine, build up settlements and look after the people who live in them while a dynamic plague keeps spreading.

The sequel keeps the series' core rules. Every survivor is a playable character with their own traits, and a survivor who dies stays dead. What changes is the scale: a map roughly four times the size of one State of Decay 2 map, up to three settlements per community, two melee attacks plus a dodge, and Plague Nests that grow into dungeon-like enemy hubs.

**State of Decay 3 Official Gameplay Reveal**
Channel
State Of Decay
Published
June 7, 2026
Length
3:05
Format
In-game gameplay trailer

The Official Gameplay Reveal premiered at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, 2026 and was captured entirely in-game, with no pre-rendered shots. It opens on a grenade-rigged boom box, one of the homemade explosives you can build, and is set to Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead". The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, and more features and challenges are planned after launch, the same way State of Decay 2 kept growing after release.

Survey of the systems

Every system in State of Decay 3 pulls against the plague at the centre of the map. Pick a marker to open its full briefing.

Survivor sprinting into a glowing orange plague tunnel lined with infected — Plague Nests The infestation network at the heart of the map: nests, hearts, blister nodes and spitters.

Windy City settlement silhouetted at sunset with its tower and rooftop lookouts — Hold up to three settlements at once. Windy City's old wind generator gives it free power.

Three survivors refuelling an armored car at the Juno gas station in the rain — Cross a map about four times one State of Decay 2 map by sedan, SUV or cargo van.

Survivor swinging a blade-studded club at decayed zombies beside a train — Quick attack, power attack and a dodge, plus serrated machetes and homemade bombs.

Helmeted survivor with a crossbow walking past a wooden house as a companion follows — Four players, one untethered world, and progress that carries on while you are offline.

Freaks on the front line

The enemy lineup will look familiar to State of Decay 2 players, but every type now has a sharper role. Zombies infected years ago are dried out and slow, recently turned ones move with more vigor, and armored zombies punish anyone who lets a crowd close in. On top of them come four freaks, the Bloater, Feral, Screamer and Juggernaut, which Undead Labs designed to play off each other in mixed fights.

Bloater freak with a swollen blistered body leading zombies across a clearing — Official screenshot · Undead Labs
A Bloater leads a crowd across open ground. Its bile burns when lit.

Feral freak crouched on all fours on a wet road beside an overturned truck — Official screenshot · Undead Labs
A Feral crouches on a rain-soaked road next to an overturned truck.

Two details shape how you prepare. Bloaters spew bile that a thrown Molotov sets alight, spreading fire through every zombie standing in it. And there are no zombie animals: the infected deer in the 2020 teaser belonged to a concept trailer made before the game had a real team.

Release and platform facts

Where, when and how you can play, at a glance.

Release window: 2027; no day or month announced
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam and Xbox app), Xbox Cloud, PlayStation 5
Game Pass: Included on day one
Developer: Undead Labs, independent and employee-owned since September 22, 2026
Multiplayer: Online co-op for up to four players; full solo support
Languages: Eight; English is the only one with full audio
Age rating: ESRB M (Mature 17+), PEGI 16, USK 18
Price and pre-orders: No price yet; wishlists only
Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Latest dispatches

September 22, 2026
Undead Labs becomes an independent, employee-owned studio. The game still launches day one on Game Pass, now with a new publisher.
August 26, 2026
Closed beta playtests are set for before the end of 2026, opening the game to more players and platforms than the alpha.
June 7, 2026
The first gameplay trailer premieres at the Xbox Games Showcase alongside the 2027 window and a PlayStation 5 version.
April 3, 2026
Playtest sign-ups open at playtest.stateofdecay.com together with the Alpha Announce video.

Read the full development timeline