It’s a rough day for Microsoft employees, with reported layoffs across the board. The Gaming Division is no exception, and while the full extent of departures is unknown, Rare’s Everwild and The Initiative’s Perfect Dark have allegedly been cancelled. Naturally, you may assume that other projects with few updates over the years would be in trouble, including Undead Labs’ State of Decay 3.
According to Kotaku’s Ethan Gach, the studio has also faced layoffs, though it’s “not yet clear how widespread.” He also mentioned that meetings among staff were “showing up on people’s calendars on a rolling basis,” so the situation is still very much developing.
How will this affect the development of State of Decay 3, which was announced in 2020? In 2022, a Kotaku report revealed issues with sexism and toxicity at the studio, which led to several departures, thus impacting development. A new in-engine trailer would debut at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, and Undead Labs announced the end of content updates for State of Decay 2 to focus on the sequel.
Rumors indicated that it could launch in 2026 and potentially appear at this year’s Xbox showcase (which didn’t happen). An unannounced project is also reportedly in the works at the studio, so the layoffs could be related to the same. As always, stay tuned for further updates.
