Zombie MMO! Hell Yeah!
Welcome, zombie fans!
And MMO fans.
Oh, and of course console gaming fans.
And if you don’t fall into one of those categories, you are welcome to hang out anyway if you are console-zombie-MMO-curious.
Today Undead Labs proudly announces… well, our existence. Here’s the official word.
So what’s this site all about? Well, you’ll notice a few non-traditional things going on here.
First, the name of the studio. It’s not “Grumpy Gopher Games” or “Silver Platter Studios” or some generic name that can be applied to any kind of game. Traditional thinking is that your studio name should be genre-neutral, the rationale being that even if you want to make a game about the rotting undead today, in five years you might want to make a pet monkey simulator, and you don’t want to tie your name to a genre.
Um, yeah. Honestly, if we decide to make a pet monkey simulator in a few years, we’ll start a studio called MönkeyWerks or something. This studio is all about making the ultimate zombie apocalypse game, so we are Undead Labs.
You’ll also note that this website is very “blog like” in its layout and focus on news-style content. The fact is that we don’t have a game to put in your hands today, or a marketing team insisting on a “marketing focused” website, so right now the focus of our website is to let you know how it’s going.
We plan to be very transparent during the development process, and to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the early life of a new development studio and the process of bringing a triple-A MMO (or, MMOZ) to life. It’s too early to build a real game community, so hang out here if you are into the behind-the-scenes stuff. If you just want to hear about the game, file all of this in your “cool stuff to check into later” box and we’ll be sure to make some noise when the time is right.
For now, you can expect a few posts a month with features on the studio, the development process, design direction, the industry, and so on. A great way to keep up with new articles is to click that big orange RSS button at the top of this page, or you can just click here to subscribe. We’d also like to encourage you to be part of the Undead Labs community by sharing your thoughts on the articles we post (after reading the Lab Etiquette Guidelines, of course). Many of the initial articles will be written by me, but as new developers come onboard you’ll be hearing from them as well.
Thanks for reading. We look forward to getting to know you. Stay tuned.
Jeff
Awesome project, always wanted to play a game exactly as you propose.
Buy please please please use slow zombies instead of the quicker ones. Like Dead Rising.
You probably know The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, which is a great reference.
Good luck!
I cant wait to see what it will look like and if the dev guys read this, check out fort zombie
hi is this mmo coming to the playstation 3? i hope your answer is yes
weapon proficiency: If the game is to take place in where zombies over run the world then this term should take new meaning. Guns would become the worst weapon because ammo would be in short supply. Plus, it would never always be about delivering the head shot. Having tools that double as weapons would be the choice. A hammer or crowbar would keep you alive longer then a sniper gun or semi-automatic. This means that the weapon proficiency should not just be about cracking skulls.(even though that’s what will be the first thing we want to do when playing the game hehe.)
This is the game i’ve been waiting for for years. Please annouce what console it’s on so I can start saving I it’s not mine.
A Zombie game for consoles so good people will play it for months AND pay for it. That’s ambitious for a change. I buy that just for the premise alone, feeling crazy at the same time not knowing the first thing about the gameplay.
The job description for the post of designer; priceless. Is there a chance you could release the job interviews testing applicants for their zombie lore knowledge as viral video? How does one apply for a job with that as its priority? Send a picture lying in the tub bathing in a DVD Zombie movie collection? Ask George Romero kindly to write a letter of reference? Does it count if I admired and met Peter Jackson before he made Lord of the Rings?
Best wishes and a lot of success to all the people at Undead Labs.
Klaus – good job referencing Peter Jackson. Most people always think of Lord of the Rings when saying his name. They never think of his walks in the world of the dead with a title like Frightners, or undead with the movie Deadalive or Bad Taste. (yes the last title was really an alien title, but it still had zombies.)
Oh man! I know there was a mention of ‘blue zone’ towns in an interview.
I think it would be awesome if everyone started in the generic NPC town, and it was up to the players to go out and build outpost ‘blue zone’ towns.
And reading back on another person’s post about finding NPCs in ‘rescue missions’ for your town would accomplish a few things for your town that you built up.
1) They could keep a shop up selling various things that your ‘townmates’ have found in the world.
2)Increase building speeds by helping build up structures. (I imagine that building a new ‘house’ shouldn’t happen just by paying 50,000$ to an NPC and getting some scroll that magically makes a home for your character. ~ I mean.. this isn’t a fantasy game. )
3)The most obvious being, helping protect your town while you’re there.. and while you and your comrades aren’t…
And just the building concept.. It would be neat if it worked in ‘real time.’ But in a way such as the ‘Warcraft’ RPG games did. Say a ‘shack house’ would take (1)hr to build. But with 2 people working on it, it would take 30 minutes. And since NPCs in your town could help you, building ‘super structures’ such as – Malls, Hotels or whatever else you great minds can think of which in ‘real time’ would take … I dunno 5000 hrs for a mall, but ‘just leave it to the NPC’ attitude can begin.
Oh then considering collecting all the materials to build the structures..
Man I want to play this game already.
I don’t suppose you guys are looking for talented writers that love writing about zombies are you? I’ve been writing screenplays and short stories about zombies for years and I have incredible ideas for a universe such as the one you guys are creating!
If this game is as legit as it sounds then ill probably never play another game again because ill be to busy with this one
A Zombie MMO seems like a brilliant idea. One question though. Are you planning on setting up a forum on the website? If so, then great!
Dear Spacecoast
playable zombie characters should not be in the inital release. Zombies would not be able to interact with others for a single reason other then roaming around and randomly trying to bite someone. Trying to play as a zombie would only work if they were simular to MarvelZombies.. then you run into copyright laws, interdimensional portals. The only positive would be that Ash from the Evil Dead series could show up.
yeah i never cared much for playing as zombies, and it would just further complicate what they have to do. if you want a really good zombie game they have to focus on playing as a human.
I just heard of a way that being a playable zombie could work. W.O.W. let a zombie virus out where if you were bit you would slowly turn, and if you died you would turn right away. Your character would only be a zombie for a period of time and then fully die. Afterwards, gameplay would resume. Maybe there is a way to work in the fear of infection. Imagin working in a group trying to defend a location, all of a sudden the player next to you turns into a zombie. aside from the oh-S**t factor in the game play, it would change the dynamic of interacting with others who did not tell you they were infected. I just cant see playing as a zombie for more then 20-30 min with out it getting really boring.
sound great !
i would recommend you to have a look on the webbased game called horde.
the concept is really addictive and can be ported in 3D.
Seems that an amazing concept that many people have been thinking about is finally coming into fruition. Thank you and I wish you the BEST of luck, on making an amazing game with an amazing concept and genre! Cheers, demonic87
what Suburban Freak just said actually sounds great that does seem like it would work really well
Three things:
Port this to the PC. I don’t care if you develop it for consoles but PLEASE port this to the PC. After waiting years for a zombie MMO to come out, it’s a real slap in the face to see it made with console bias.
I don’t mind a little comedy, but most zombie fans would prefer a tense horror atmosphere.
Traditional SLOW zombies. Zombie culture has had a bias for runners lately, but you guys should kick it old school. Romero/Brooks style. If you haven’t already, read World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.
Good luck with the project.
Deaden
Just remember that comedy is one of the great ways of building a scare in a zombie story. Build the tension till it is about to break, then hit them with a laugh. It allows everyone a giggle and let’s them relax for a min. Then, wham hit them with an intense action or scare.
I’ve been waiting for this forever. Can’t wait ’til we get more info.
Here’s hoping it’s a sandbox.
A community of zombie gamers? Great!
I’m sure this is everyone’s dream come true. I know I’ve been thinking of this for a long time. I think players should be able to upgrade their own homes. You know, so when you’re not killing zombies you can ply pool with your friends or something. Maybe even have PvP in most areas, after all, it’s survival of the fittest.
im just wondering if its gonna be a fps mmo sick zombie slaying action. or if its gonna kinda play out like WOW. well i guess ill find out…
to find out what type of game people would want like a more serious one or a more comedy based one should make a poll so people can vote on it
Ever since learning of what this game will entail, i started thinking on how survival structures could be built.
One of my better (and more plausible) ideas led me to think about adding spades to dig trenches and manipulate the elevation of your little shelter.
Trenches may make zombies scramble to get back on their feet, giving the player time to shoot them down.
Just and idea
think this game will be amazing regardless.
Good luck with the development!
So stoked to see how all this works out in the future. I just happened to stumble upon you guys when I was thinking to myself.”Hey you know what would be great. A huge zombie apocalypse mmo” I really hope you are all successful in the future with your glorious quest of brain eating proportions.
i definately think you should not put playable zombies in your game, the whole attraction to a zombie-apocolypse is surviving that mess by any means possible, adding a controllable zombie into the mix would dumb down the game because there is no strategy in biting someones arm. in relation to fast vs. slow zombies- iv read a few comments saying fast zombies are blasphemos to the traditional idea of a zombie but i put forward this argument: isn’t a zombie’s characteristics based solely on instinct and having a hunger that forces the reanimated corpse to ‘hunt’ and eat normal humans? don’t most predators (excluding aquatic wildlife) run for or chase in some form of another there prey? so in theory why should the zombie be any different? it is a predator and we are its prey when it sees us it will run at us to devour us, i don’t think however you should just have fast zombies i like slow ones too i think if the zombie is ‘healthy’ it should be able to run but if it is damaged either from the waist down or severly enough to hinder movement then it should be slow, you should decide the speed of a zombie purely by circumstance. Also i posted a comment at a different section of this website and mentioned FPS in said comment, i wanted to elaborate about the idea as i had thought about it more and more ever since i wrote the comment. If the game was FPS i think it would have more of an effect on the player, allow me to elaborate:- with TPS the camera allows the player to see more of the level around them with a wider view the player could see zombies lurking in corners/behind cars/crawling out of shops etc. fairly easily especially if it’s during the day, in FPS the player would have to be more vigilant looking around corners/clearing the shops before proceeding/grenading the sewer just in case, isnt the first rule of zombie warfare ‘aim for the head’ i know in the game a headshot will not be the only way to take one down as this would be rediculous and frustrating but im the kind of person who would spend hours fine tuning my FP aim so i could kill all my attacking zombies with a headshot because i want to re-enact some of the zombie movies iv seen or the books i have read, i want to barricade my self in a gun store sit on the roof with an AK and a Barrett .50 cal and shoot the z’s in the head i want to feel the panic and stress of holding off hordes of undead and in my opinion FP can express those feelings. On the other FP limits melee attack as we have seen in most FPS’s of current times, but if u implemented a stand alone melee combat system it could work well, like have a melee weapon assigned to a button on the d-pad so instead of quickly stabbing like on CoD, you select your melee weapon and use X, Square, Triangle, Circle to do various strikes (i own a ps3 thats why i used those button examples) but this can be applied to xbox, nintendo whatever. then after dispatching close-up zombies you can pull out your spas-12 and take off some heads, i really want to work on this game i think i was born to make it i could sit here all day every day of the week and come up with ideas, this game is limitless, and hopefully good DLC will be offered too with more weapons, cities etc. if this doesn’t get made for ps3 i will actually kill myself, screw buying an xbox.
just wanted to add that maybe switching between the two views FP and TP would be ok, when using firearms FP mode would activate so the player can aim down the sights and precisely pick off zombies, when it gets too intense and the character becomes surrounded or attacked on a close-quaters basis you select your melee weapon using the d-pad (as mentioned in previous comment) and the view mode switches to TP so the player can maximise his attacks and ‘kill zone’ without being hindered by lack of view with their weapon of choice (personally i would have a samurai sword) i recall playing elder scrolls: oblivion and enjoyed having the freedom to choose between FP and TP at my will. give me a job.
one more thing, i read in the ‘about’ section of the site you plan on making this game co-op, will this co-op mode be strictly online with splitscreen enabled or will there be an offline mode for those who have limited or no access to the internet? many of my friends who i play co-op with have very limited access to the internet but would absolutely love this game i know MMO’s are strictly about an online community so i would completely understand if the answer to my questions was a no, i just thought i would ask if you had thought about it. take it easy.
Subject: Jon Lynch
Date Recorded: December 11, 2009 at 9:38 pm
to find out what type of game people would want like a more serious one or a more comedy based one should make a poll so people can vote on it
Im glad you mentioned this i had also thought wether the game would be serious or just a piss take of some kind. i think they should make a serious game because the ‘funny’ aspect will inately tie in to the gameplay itself. what is more fun than running through a street with a friend shooting down zombies attacking from all angles, the experience itself is what provides the fun. if the developers try to make the game funny then the game won’t be taken seriously and therefore it may be boycotted and the chances of making another game like this again would dwindle, if you give the player the freedom to do whatever they want (to a certain degree), build/retake/rampage/sneak/hole-up/drive through crowds of zombies whatever, then the player will have limitless fun, how could you get bored when there are infinate opportunities to keep your gaming experience fresh, one day you may sit down to play it and think ‘i fancy getting in a tank and driving over a load of z’s’ or ‘i wonder how long i can survive armed only with a kitchen knife’ you might want to be sneaky one day and silently take out zombies without giving away your position or you may want to sit in a tree and snipe any z’z you happen to see the possibilities are endless. If your going to make a comedy zombie game then don’t even bother putting it on a disc just release it as DLC, if you want people to be interested in it that they actually cannot wait to play the game then make it serious, the plot doesnt have to be amazing and there really isnt any need for complex characters just some dudes who got lucky and survived now they want to some revenge offering customisable weapons would a wise move, whether its guns or melee weapons, just look at dead rising 2 with the 2 chainsaws on a pole thing on the trailer that looks sweet, im looking forward to dead rising 2 but i have my suspicions that the developers made that a ‘comedy’ zombie game and whilst that works with movies (shaun of the dead, zombieland etc.) i don’t think it works with games
Freshly bitten zombies would obviously be fast. So you could easily have both and for there to be any difficulty to the game you would need to do that.
Hey, I’m glad to hear of this concept! Your killing 2 birds with one multi-million dollar stone. A console MMO, and a REAL zombie game.
I really hope to see an open world play style like World of Warcraft, where the worlds so huge (Preferrably something along the lines of a GTA map with ALOT more room, and explorable buildings like Fallout 3/Call of Duty) with the Left 4 Dead “Pick up that weapon and own” playstyle.
Wouldn’t mind seeing horror events though, with zombies in the dark jumping on you, and having to fend them off (Like Zombieland, oh god that movie has a perfect Zombie Complex), with occasional hordes (But not in the Left 4 Dead ‘end story’ and being all too common way).
Just wanted to put in 2 more cents here to the creators in hopes you’ll read this – I hear you guys are working on survival, and I think that would be great. If you can keep the leveling system something like Call of Duty to keep everyone balanced with minor perks, when having all the humans worry about food/medicine/shelter/companions/weapons and all the real life stuff would be amazing.
One more key thing I find though, is when your watching movies like Resident Evil or Zombieland, theres that drama of the ‘bitten people’. No video game I know of has ever captured this right.
Can you be bitten in the MMO? Do you have to get medicine before you turn? What if your friends bitten, that would raise ALOT of social drama that any video game would benefit from. What happens when you turn, do you get to kill your friends or does an AI take you over when you wait to respawn? Maybe you have to take over zombies and kill a certain amount of survivors, or wait a certain amount of time (Which would be weird in an open world game, may I add.. thats more of a Versus Shooter Complex) before you have the right to respawn. Do you make a new identity, loose levels? Whats your compulsion not to die?
I just wanted to add that in, as I am sure you guys will make a great game – but whenever you watch a zombie movie, the drama is always around getting bitten and turning. Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising just had the health bar, which is neccessary too, but you never had to worry about turning or deal with someone who is turning. L4D zombie play style was something completely else, albeit fun.
I hope you guys read this, because I’ve been dying for a game that truly is ‘zombie’ survival in real perspectives. Zombieland stands as a great example of what to create.
Is the game gonna be 1st person or third. Are u gonna be able to find things around and use them or what. How is it gonna be different to Left for dead. And is it going to be traditional zombies aka ‘hard to kill but slow’ or ‘
easy to kill but fast’, please get back to me even if u can only give me some minor details
Nice, Good Luck Undead Labs
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Give me a golden baseball bat and roller skates I’ll have a field day xD
here is an idea you can have for free: optional hardcore(one life) player characters that when killed become playable zombies based on how powerful the character was.
Please email me for more ideas if you like. I have been thinking about what should go into a zombie mmo since WoW came out and am an avid zombie game player. Would be thrilled just to get someone in the industry to consider these ideas. Looking forward to the game already and will certainly get it if it comes to 360…
would be awsome if theres a military sweep that happens in some areas which would attack anyone alive or dead to keep teh surivors moving instead of (camping) in one building or zombies will just start to ammass until you cant get out without being torn to pieces
would be pretty cool if there are infected animals as well most commons dogs but thinking about rats and other small creatures that could get in to your little safe haven though they may not directly attack you but maybe contaminate your food/water which if you eat would infect you as well (this could be countered blocking every hole that they could get through or finding a secure place for food/water)