State of Decay 3 May Be Releasing Sooner Than You Think

State of Decay 3 may finally be releasing after years of silence. Xbox has a wide assortment of franchises, some of which are homegrown and others have been acquired by buying up studios. Xbox holds the keys to some of the most iconic franchises in gaming with Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War, and a lot more, but they also have some of the most underrated games out there as well. It’s a great variety, but it also sometimes makes Xbox look overextended. At the start of the current generation, Xbox announced a bunch of games that still haven’t come out nor do they feel very close. Perfect Dark, Everwild, and State of Decay 3 make up some of these games.

However, Xbox is gearing up for another one of its big summer showcases and it seems like there’s a lot that could be revealed. While we will surely hear about a wide mix of third-party games and more imminent games like Fable, what about the stuff that was announced ages ago? Well, it sounds like there’s a chance we could get a good taste of that as well.

According to Windows Central‘s Jez Corden, he expects State of Decay 3 to have a presence at the showcase because he’s heard that the game is planning to launch in 2026. While not confirmation, Corden is pretty reliable when it comes to Xbox news and a 2026 launch window would make sense for a game that’s been in the works for about five years now. It seems a bit sudden given how long we’ve gone without hearing much about the game. There was a new State of Decay 3 trailer last year, but it lacked any real detail or gameplay.

“There’s also State of Decay 3, whose photorealistic announcement trailer really set the expectation bar high,” said Corden. “State of Decay as a concept and a franchise has truly limitless potential. So, so many games have tried and failed to deliver a truly essential co-op zombie apocalypse simulation experience. From what I’ve heard, State of Decay 3 could be launching as soon as 2026, so maybe now is the time to offer fans a deeper look at what could be one of Microsoft’s biggest games of next year.”

The State of Decay games are some of the most underrated Xbox games out there. They’re zombie survival games where players can play as a variety of different survivors and build up a homebase of sorts. They can then go out with friends and accomplish missions, scavenge for resources, and much more. It’s likely State of Decay 3 will be pretty massive in scale with how long it has taken to make, but that will also be extremely valuable to Xbox Game Pass as it means the game will keep players around from month to month.

If State of Decay 3 is really coming next year, 2026 is going to be a massive year for Xbox. Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, State of Decay 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and maybe even something like Perfect Dark all releasing next year would create one of the best Xbox line-ups we’ve ever seen, maybe reminiscent of Xbox’s golden days on the 360.

Are you still interested in State of Decay 3? Let me know in the comments.