State of Decay 3 is out in 2027, reveals Plague Nests with new co-op gameplay trailer

A few months ago, Undead Labs broke its silence about the third entry in the State of Decay series since its announcement in 2020. Today, the studio had a brand-new trailer to reveal at the Xbox Games Showcase, finally giving players a look at the Unreal Engine 5-powered title. A broad 2027 release window is now attached to State of Decay 3 too.

The studio confirmed that every scene seen in the gameplay trailer (except for the studio logo) released today is from the game with no cinematic footage.

"The quality bar of the moment-to-moment experience is higher than anything we’ve achieved in Undead Labs’ history," says the studio. "State of Decay 3 is being built in Unreal Engine 5, and we’re creating better quality versions of what makes our game the survival sandbox it is, and the combat experience is really, really important to us, and I think you can see it coming through in this trailer."

One new aspect of this upcoming entry is the Plague Nests. These are supposed to be dynamic, dungeon‑like enemy hubs with varied “personas” that change tactics each time one appears on a map. These areas will have the best loot in the game for players brave enough to tackle them.

The combat system is being overhauled too, letting players do quick and power attacks depending on the situation. This isn't just on the player's side though, as zombies themselves now have multiple new types of behaviors depending on how fresh or decayed they are.

"All of these play very differently, especially as you start getting outnumbered or when you’re making noise and running around and trying to save your rear end or the rear end of your friend next to you," adds the developer.

Of course, settlement building and community management are massive parts of this third entry too. These are being further expanded with the cooperative focus, giving players much more freedom for playing together than in State of Decay 2. Players will even be able to split up and build settlements in different areas of the same map with different goals.

Undead Labs confirmed that playtests are already ongoing for the title, and interested players can sign up to participate by heading over here once more slots open up ahead of the full release.

State of Decay 3 is coming out on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Game Pass sometime in 2027.