It has been nearly six years since State of Decay 3's reveal back in July 2020. The game was announced with a CG trailer, which players have learned to be distrustful of over the years, waiting instead to see what actual gameplay is like before really starting to get hyped up. We knew it was still very early in production at the time, but Undead Labs studio head Phillip Holt recently revealed just how early in development the game was at the time.
In an interview with Sunny Games (via Kotaku), which arrived alongside Undead Labs announcing its alpha playtest sign ups for State of Decay 3 are now open, Holt admits right off the top that, "there really wasn't a game when we were working on that trailer, it was so early."
"No zombie deer," Holt says when he starts to answer questions about that first 2020 reveal trailer. "So, that trailer in 2020, there really wasn't a game or a game team when we were working on that trailer, it was so early...There was four or five people [on the team]. You know, the game was in a Word document."
"The trailer was done by Blur, it was all pre-rendered. It represented, I think, a concept, you know, our thoughts at the time of what might be cool to explore in State of Decay 3, and as we've had a chance to build the team and get going on the game, some of those elements, I think, are going to persist in the game that we deliver. And some of those things, we're just like 'Yeah, we're not doing zombie animals'."
That's unfortunate news for fans who may have thought the idea of zombie animals was incredible for State of Decay 3, but at the very least we've reached a point in the game's development where Undead Labs is ready to start talking about it again, after years of silence and players left wondering if the game is even still on its way.
Hopefully, after its upcoming alpha test, we don't have to wait too much longer to hear more about State of Decay 3. Maybe we'll even see some actual gameplay at Xbox's upcoming Summer Game Fest 2026 showcase.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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