Developing big games is not easy. Especially not when it comes to MMOs. The developer of a zombie series, for which fans have been waiting for a sequel for 6 years due to having to change the vision, realized this.
Which series is it about? With State of Decay, developer Undead Labs has already delivered 2 zombie games, in which you can explore a world infested with undead in co-op, rescue survivors, and also build bases. In 2020, State of Decay 3 was announced.
However, fans are still waiting for the 3rd part of the series, which is expected to be released in 2027. In a new interview, the current CEO of Undead Labs, Philip Holt, talks about the waiting time and explains that they had to abandon a grand vision: Originally, they wanted to make the latest installment a large MMO.
An Overambitious Vision
What was the problem during development? In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Holt explains that at the first trailer release of the third installment in 2020, only a handful of developers were working on the game. The majority of the team continued to support State of Decay 2 until 2024. Additionally, there was a creative realignment during development.
Initially, they planned with an MMO structure. The studio’s founder, Jeff Strain (who is no longer part of the studio since 2019), was said to have had the vision to make “an MMO and the ultimate global scale of a zombie apocalypse.” However, they abandoned this idea and “rewrote” the game. According to Holt, the current version started development by late 2022 or 2023.
The MMO vision was dropped after nearly 2 years, and they aligned more with the predecessors. Holt himself emphasizes in the interview how difficult it is to develop an MMO and pays respect to the successful studios: “One of the things I learned is just how much respect I have for teams that make successful MMOs, because I’ve seen them swallow people whole.”
Apart from that, he hopes that State of Decay 3 will have a successful life. He also believes that the studio’s next project should be completed more quickly. Since July 2026, Undead Labs has become independent again and is separated from Microsoft.
Why is it so hard to develop an MMO? Large AAA games take many years to be released nowadays. This is partly due to more complex levels of detail and the advancing state of technology. However, this also increases costs, and there is always the risk that a game will never be released and will become a money pit.
Unlike AAA games, which are often completed after their release or receive only a few DLCs, MMOs are inherently designed to function as service games over many years. So you need a lot of content (already prepared for the time after launch), constant support, and regular updates through patches.
This makes every MMO with modern technology automatically a AAA project concerning budget and development time or even overshadows it (excluding flagship games like GTA VI).
However, the many years of development must, of course, be paid for. This is only possible with constant revenue or a generous publisher. The latter is extremely difficult nowadays. Few companies are willing to finance a risky MMO project. Last year, experienced developers like Jack Emmert and Greg Street had to learn this the hard way.
For independent financing, you need an active game with a strong community that consistently generates sufficiently high revenues. However, building and maintaining that is very challenging. If player numbers and revenues drop too much, it quickly means the end for the MMO and, in the worst case, for the entire studio.
It also doesn’t help that you’re not only competing with many other service games for players’ leisure time but also with social media and offerings like Netflix or Amazon Prime.
While games like State of Decay 1 and 2 can continue to generate revenue because they are still available for purchase, a dead
MMO cannot. Therefore, it may have been a good idea for Undead Labs to pull the plug on the MMO vision early before they get crushed by their own ambitions.
But what do you think about the studio’s decision? Would you have wished for a new zombie MMO or are you glad that Undead Labs is sticking to its known strengths? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. Why it is difficult to develop an MMORPG today, you can find out here: 6 MMO legends reveal why it is so difficult to create a successful MMORPG today
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