4 years after its reveal, State of Decay 3 is back with a first look at its gorgeous and emotional open-world zombie action

State of Decay 3 just received its first gameplay trailer, four years after its initial announcement.

Debuting during the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, State of Decay 3's newest trailer has almost everything we'd expect from Microsoft's zombie-slaying open-world series. A group of survivors venture out into the wild, presumably on the hunt for supplies, before a brain-eating horde overwhelms them. Melee slashing, sneaking, modified guns, co-op, and a returning, even fatter Juggernaut zombie were on full show.

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This time around, developer Undead Labs seems to have snuck in a few gameplay shots too, as our survivors land some crunchy headshots in third-person angles - and hot damn, this threequel significantly irons out the series' jank and ups the production values. You can practically see the rotting pores on every zombies' face.

Alongside the usual zombie slayage, State of Decay is also known for how it lets players manage an entire community with very different needs, traits, and abilities. That was largely absent here, though we do get one brief show of what I assume is our home base at the end. There's also lots of dialogue about who these characters were before they were forced into a life of violence and struggle, so I'm happy to see the series' ambient storytelling return. 

The trailer description reveals State of Decay 3 is set "years after the zombie apocalypse nearly wiped out humankind," and serves as the "next evolution" for the franchise. "As the zombie threat continues to claim lives, you must fight back and reclaim lost ground, carving out a life for your community of survivalist homesteaders."

No release date yet for this one but you can expect State of Decay 3 to come to Xbox Series X|S and PC when it's ready. 

See everything else announced at the Xbox Games Showcase for an overview of all the games and reveals.