State of Decay 3 Could Reportedly Skip Xbox Game Pass Day One

State of Decay 3 was believed to be cancelled for the longest time before it made an appearance at the Xbox Games Showcase in June and sent everyone into a mood of celebration. Unfortunately, the joy did not last long, as announced recently was the massive wave of layoffs in Team Green, along with the sale of a few studios, including Undead Labs.

As reported by Game File, Undead Labs is being spun out of Xbox, and the studio’s next owner may not be bound to keep the game tied to the Xbox Game Pass, along with its day-one release.

Why State of Decay 3’s Launch on Game Pass Is Suddenly Uncertain

State of Decay 3 is reportedly under no obligation to come to Xbox Game Pass | Credit: Undead Labs

According to the latest reports, the upcoming and unrevealed owner of Undead Labs won’t be inheriting the commitment of launching State of Decay 3 on Game Pass. This would further mark the franchise’s departure from the provider overall, as the subscription service was a major reason behind State of Decay 2’s success back in 2018, thanks to the game reaching a much wider audience than it likely would have through just retail sales.

What’s more? The responsibility for funding the game’s development stays with Xbox till it is out, with the money not tied to any promise about where players will be able to access the game once it’s out.

It’s important to note that this is reportedly just a burden taken off the studio’s shoulders to stick the game’s release to a particular subscription service, and not a confirmed decision. There is no official confirmation yet that states that State of Decay 3 is leaving Game Pass.

What This Means for State of Decay 3’s Future

The new owners of the studio have not yet been revealed | Credit: Undead Labs

State of Decay 3 made an appearance with a full gameplay segment at Xbox’s June Showcase after years of silence. As expected, there are a lot more eyeballs on the game than there have been ever before. The latest material also finally revealed a 2027 release timeline for the game that fans have been anticipating forever since its first trailer back in 2020.

As for Xbox, alongside Undead Labs, other studios, including Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory, are all being spun out from the company’s ownership as part of the latest restructuring efforts.

Additionally, none of this seems to have any effect on the game’s development pace. Thankfully, there has been no announcement yet announcing any kind of delay to the game’s release thanks to the latest round of layoffs, and fans have their fingers crossed hoping for it to stay that way.

State of Decay 3 remains slated to arrive on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC in 2027, as who ends up owning Undead Labs remains unknown. Would you like to make a guess? Drop them in the comments below!