‘State Of Decay 3’ Is Finally Showing Symptoms Of Release (But No Zombie Deer)

“No Zombie Deer. No Zombie Deer. No Zombie Deer.”

For the third State of Decay game, Undead Labs studio head Philip Holt had to confirm three times that there would be no zombie deer in the game.

In the beginning of April, Holt sat down with Sunny Games to finally shed some more light on the long-awaited State of Decay 3.

Fans remember a trailer released for the game in 2020 (ironic, we know), and they particularly clung to the new visual of a zombified deer. It didn’t help that the trailer was the only thing fans had to chew on for years. About a month ago, Undead Labs announced that alpha playtests for the game would begin in May. Thus, the marketing campaign for the threequel began.

When asked about the zombie deer in a new, exclusive interview, Holt denies it three times. He elaborates that the inconsistency here stemmed from the fact that the game was barely a solid idea back then. He explains:

“So that trailer – there really wasn’t a game or game team when we were working on that trailer, like, it was so early…I mean there was like four or five people. You know, the game was in a Word document… It was really the very beginning of [the] software. The trailer was done by Blur, it was all pre-rendered, it represented, I think, a concept – 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 a team and get going on the game, some of those elements I think are gonna persist in the game that we deliver, and some of those things are just, like, we’re not doing zombie animals.”

What he does support, however, is that the third installment is much further into the future of this zombie apocalypse. This brings about newer, long-term issues and more evolved danger. In his words:

“State of Decay 3 is years farther into the future – so your group of survivors is a little more hardened. You know, they’ve had to live in the zombie threat for years now. The world is sort of picked over. So you’re not really looking for cans of food, as much as you are kind of materials that you can bring back to your base and sort of build things with…and the zombie menace has evolved and it’s sort of re-emerged in a new threat as we begin…the game at State of Decay 3 and you’re having to face this now more dangerous zombie presence.”

If this makes you want to bite, you can register now for a chance to be included in the State of Decay 3 Alpha.