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Xbox has confirmed there will be more opportunities to playtest State of Decay 3 ahead of its release next year, with an "expanding" list of participants for alpha and beta playtests planned "throughout the year."
Xbox and developer Undead Labs took the stage during this weekend's Xbox Games Showcase 2026 with brand new State of Decay 3 gameplay footage and a fresh 2027 release window. It's been six long years since the game was announced, which led to the false assumption that an actual release date was imminent, but it seems Xbox isn't ready to set that in stone just yet.
That said, it appears feedback from last month's alpha playtest has been encouraging, as the developers are confidently urging fans to sign up for upcoming tests.
"We're going to be expanding our Alpha and then Beta list over time and we are dying for players to come play. We've got an audience that's hungry for this game, the signups were fantastic, they're going to keep growing and we want to get more," says State of Decay 3 creative director Kevin Patzelt in an Xbox Wire writeup.
Xbox and Undead have been fairly vague about the scope and amount of State of Decay 3 playtests that'll be held, but Patzelt says "the first wave" will be "limited" and "there will be more opportunities throughout the year."
In any case, if you want to see what the next iteration of the long-running open-world survival series is all about, you'll want to throw your hat into the ring on the official playtest website, where you can quickly submit your details for a chance to get in.
State of Decay 3 is coming out next year on Xbox, PC, and PS5.
In the meantime, here are the best Xbox games you can play right now.
