Undead Labs rewrote State of Decay 3 after abandoning MMO plans

Undead Labs spent years trying to turn State of Decay 3 into a full-blown zombie apocalypse MMO before pivoting back to the scale of the first two games in late 2022. CEO Philip Holt said the team essentially rewrote the game, and after Xbox cut the studio loose it found a publisher while still laying off staff.

• State of Decay 3 was announced in 2020, but the teaser didn't reflect actual development
• The studio dropped the MMO concept and rewrote the game in late 2022
• After leaving Xbox, Undead Labs found a publisher but still laid off staff