State of Decay 3 will launch for both PS5 and Xbox Series X | S when it arrives sometime in 2027.

This July marks six years since the third entry in the zombie survival franchise was announced, with today’s Xbox Games Showcase delivering the most footage we’ve seen so far with its proper gameplay reveal. Its full presence at the show totals three minutes of footage, most of which seems to be in-game.

It’s our best look at State of Decay 3 by a mile, and while no release date was shared, Undead Labs was able to confirm it will launch at an unspecified point in 2027. Despite so few updates in the many years since its reveal, the real surprise may be the confirmation that it won’t be yet another Xbox console exclusive when it launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X | S next year.

“The zombie apocalypse nearly wiped out humankind,” an official description from Xbox and Undead Labs said. “Years after the initial outbreak, carve out a life for yourself in a world gripped by blood plague. Play as a community of survivors, build up your settlements with friends, and destroy zombies in State of Decay 3, the latest in the franchise from developer Undead Labs.”

As noted in a recently published Xbox Wire post, it’s been a few years since Undead Labs had anything substantial to share about its solo and co-op survival game. That’s why today’s big reveal is especially noteworthy, as players were given a taste of what it will be like to build settlements as zombies endlessly crawl closer.

Microsoft said Undead Labs has been quiet since its initial reveal because the team “just needed time to cook.” The footage shown today revealed the stew it’s been brewing while players trickle into its alpha build, and now, it’s ready to commit to 2027.

Creative director Kevin Patzelt touched on some of the trailer’s big reveals, such as a sneak peek at Plague Nests, during a conversation with the Xbox team. He hopes players notice that “the quality bar of the moment-to-moment experience is higher than anything we’ve achieved in Undead Labs’ history.”

“In this trailer, it was important to knock people’s socks off with the quality of the game,” Patzelt said. “And we’re going to start revealing the depth of our game, because that’s what really makes a State of Decay game special. It isn’t just the zombie shooting, popping heads, all that fun stuff. It’s everything beneath that: the simulation, the systems, the community evolution, the settlements. That’s a huge part of what actually makes it special. And so you can get a snippet of that, but we’re going to evolve on that and expand on it over time.”

After seven years, State of Decay 3 will come to PC and consoles in 2027. If you need to catch up on all of the biggest reveals, you can check out everything announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).