State of Decay
| State of Decay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre(s) | Survival horror |
| Developer(s) | Undead Labs |
| Publisher(s) | Xbox Game Studios |
| Platform(s) | |
| First release | State of Decay June 5, 2013 |
| Latest release | State of Decay 2 May 22, 2018 |
State of Decay is a series of third-person survival horror video games. The series was created by Undead Labs and published by Xbox Game Studios. To date, there are two installments in the franchise, and an upcoming third game.
Common gameplay elements
[edit]State of Decay is a series of survival horror video games. All the games feature an open world environment that is infested with zombies. The core gameplay loop revolves around finding and fortifying strongholds, explore the world to rescue survivors and collect various resources such as food and equipment, and defend the base against zombie attack. The second game introduces four-player co-operative multiplayer to the franchise.[1] Unlike many other zombie games in the market, State of Decay is not about killing zombies. Instead, the player must try to avoid them, scavenge and manage resources and interact with other survivors. According to Jeff Strain, the founder of Undead Labs, the series explores the "human element", how people interact with each other and make choices in a time of desperation and hopelessness.[2]
Games
[edit]| 2013 | State of Decay |
|---|---|
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | State of Decay: YOSE |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | State of Decay 2 |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition |
| 2021 | |
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | |
| TBA | State of Decay 3 |
State of Decay (2013)
[edit]State of Decay is the debut title for Undead Labs. Originally announced as "Class3",[3] it was released for the Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows in June 2013. It quickly became a commercial success, selling 250,000 copies in 2 days.[4] An enhanced version of the game, titled State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition (YOSE), which introduced new weapons, vehicles and characters, was released in 2015 for Windows and Xbox One.[5]
State of Decay 2 (2018)
[edit]State of Decay 2 was the follow-up to the first game. It introduces a four-player cooperative mode, which was scrapped in the first game due to limited resources, to the franchise.[2][6] It was released for the Xbox One in May 2018. While the critical reception to the game was mixed, the game was the best-selling video game in the US in its month of release, with launch sales doubling that of the first game.[7] Enabled by the success of Xbox Game Pass, the game had more than 5 million players in 2019.[8] An expansion, Heartland, as well as several pieces of downloadable content, were released for the game.[9] An enhanced version of the game named the "Juggernaut Edition" which added numerous quality-of-life improvements to the game, was released in March 2020.[10]
State of Decay 3 (TBA)
[edit]Following the release of State of Decay 2, Microsoft fully acquired Undead Labs, making it a first-party studio. It is working on the third installment in the franchise, which is set to be released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S.[11]
Cancelled project
[edit]Class4 was originally intended to be a follow-up to the first game. It was envisioned to be a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.[12] However, the concept was abandoned following the success of State of Decay, as fans of the game were requesting a more expanded and polished sequel instead of a game that was drastically different.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ Fillani, Alessandro (June 13, 2017). "E3 2017: State Of Decay 2 Features A More Open And Diverse World To Explore". GameSpot. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ a b Ray Corriea, Alexa (June 24, 2013). "Undead Labs founder talks State of Decay's birth, success and next-gen plans". Polygon. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ McElroy, Griffin (February 3, 2011). "Jeff Strain shares his vision for Class3, a different kind of zombie game". Engadget. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Weber, Rachel (June 10, 2013). "State of Decay sells 250K copies in 2 days". Gameindustrh.biz. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (January 16, 2015). "Here's what's new in State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Martin, Matt (May 22, 2018). "State of Decay 2 multiplayer questions answered: matchmaking, playing solo, with friends and does it have local co-op?". VG 247. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Knezevic, Kevin (June 26, 2018). "State Of Decay 2 Was The US's Best-Selling Game Of May 2018". GameSpot. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Maki, Jonas (April 17, 2019). "Over 5 million gamers have played State of Decay 2". Gamereactor. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Marshall, Cass (August 12, 2019). "State of Decay 2 is in a strong place — what's next for the survival game?". Polygon. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Marshall, Cass (April 2, 2020). "State of Decay 2's next free update is a huge overhaul". Polygon. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Bonifacic, Igor (July 24, 2020). "'State of Decay 3' is coming to Xbox Series X and PC". Engadget. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Conditt, Jessica (June 17, 2013). "State of Decay MMO sequel, Class4, in limbo at Microsoft". Engadget. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Pereira, Chris (March 10, 2017). "State Of Decay 2 Dev Talks Larger World, Co-Op, Griefing, And More". GameSpot. Retrieved July 24, 2020.