State of Decay 3 is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 with the help of Gears of War studio

State of Decay 3
(Image credit: Undead Labs)

State of Decay 3 is still firmly underway and is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 alongside Gears of War studio The Coalition. 

As spotted by WCCF Tech, this news comes from Xbox Games Studio Head Matt Booty, who has appeared as a guest on a recent episode of the Xbox's Major Nelson podcast. During the episode, Booty discusses the studios under Xbox's belt with host Larry Hryb when the topic of Undead Labs - the developer behind State of Decay - comes up. 

Talking about the studio's upcoming projects, Booty says: "[Undead Labs is] working with The Coalition up in Vancouver, our Gears of War studio," the Xbox boss reveals, "using some of the technology around Unreal Engine 5 and some of the stuff that's been in Gears of War before to bring that into State of Decay."

Elsewhere in the interview, Booty also shares: "The week before last, we spent all day at Undead Labs in Seattle, which was great, getting the update on State of Decay 3, which has really got some cool stuff." The Xbox head then goes on to talk about State of Decay 2 which, in his words, "just continues to grow its user base" before going on to say: "The things they are doing there [on State of Decay 2], are really the testbed, the proving grounds, for all the stuff that's going in State of Decay 3."

It's nice to get some update on the upcoming survival horror game since we haven't heard much about it since it was unveiled during an Xbox and Bethesda Showcase in 2020. This could be due in part to the reports of alleged toxic culture and mismanagement at State of Decay 3 studio earlier this year. 

Wondering what other games we should keep an eye out for in the near future? Take a look at our upcoming Xbox Series X games list. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at 12DOVE before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

Read more
State of Decay 3 screenshot showing a survivor on top of a car, aiming their gun at nearby zombies
State of Decay 3: Everything we know so far
Dying Light: The Beast screenshot of protagonist Castor Wood fighting a zombie with a blade and torchlight next to the big in 2025 logo
Dying Light: The Beast is blending atmospheric horror with over the top co-op absurdity in 2025: "It's almost unachievable to keep the horror vibe and still have four players when one is teabagging a zombie"
Gears of War E-Day release date: A close-up of Marcus Fenix with his face covered in blood during the Gears of War E-Day trailer.
Gears of War: E-day will be co-developed by the 20-year shooter powerhouse that helped bring Gears, Fortnite, and one of the OG boomer shooters to life
Killing Floor 3 screenshots of a member of NIghtfall wearing a gas mask next to images of burning foes that surround the Big in 2025 logo
Killing Floor 3 is bringing us gloriously gory co-op FPS action in 2025, and Tripwire says it's "at its best when you are just barely surviving"
6 years after Rare's survival game was announced, Xbox boss Phil Spencer says the long wait is because "we've been able to give those teams time in what they're doing"
Upcoming Xbox Series X games header image featuring State of Decay 3, Fable 4, The Outer Worlds 2, and South of Midnight
Upcoming Xbox Series X games for 2025 and beyond
Latest in Survival
A misty, forested mountainside in Prologue: Go Wayback!
PUBG creator's wilderness survival game actually draws inspiration from an unexpected place - a whole raft of zombie games like DayZ, Project Zomboid, and Left 4 Dead
Terraria art showing a short-haired blond man sitting atop a grassy field in metal armor, colorful slimes on either side of him
Terraria is forever: look no further than its go-to mod tool, which just hit an all-time Steam peak ahead of surely, for real, definitely final update 1.4.5
Solarpunk airship interior
The most popular open-world survival game in Steam Next Fest is coming straight for my JRPG-born obsession with floating islands
Cubic Odyssey
This 93% positive Steam Next Fest survival game demo wants to combine Minecraft and No Man's Sky with "RPG-style depth," and so far it's actually pulling it off
Prologue
PUBG creator's nails-hard survival game launches this summer for $20, and its new trailer shows all the ways it'll try and kill you
Project Artemis early render
PUBG creator's goal for his new open-world project is to make "realistic Minecraft" complete with real geology
Latest in News
Daredevil recap: The Defenders
Marvel fans are discussing which of the Netflix series characters would have survived the Blip
A misty, forested mountainside in Prologue: Go Wayback!
PUBG creator's wilderness survival game actually draws inspiration from an unexpected place - a whole raft of zombie games like DayZ, Project Zomboid, and Left 4 Dead
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A screenshot of the vampire Brencis holding up a crown during the trailer for the upcoming game.
The Witcher 3 devs created a Jekyll & Hyde-style character for their new vampire RPG "because nobody yet has done that"
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil fans are wondering if Born Again season 2 will set up a darker comic book arc for Matt Murdock
Theo James as Hal in Osgood Perkins' The Monkey
It might only be March, but Stephen King adaptation The Monkey is now the highest grossing horror movie of 2025
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of card packs
Balatro creator initially considered a Steam release in part to help "get a game developer job somewhere," and after 5 million sales I'd say he found one