Undead Labs

AUTHOR: Emily DATE RECORDED: October 20, 2011 AT 11:51AM

‘Class3’ has gone into production, and that means that we’re going to need a ton of art to fully flesh out the world. That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’ve partnered with the talented team at  FUTUREPOLY Studios for our art production needs.

Headed up by Jason Stokes and Levi Hopkins, two of our good friends and former colleagues, the FUTUREPOLY Studios crew will be working side-by-side with our artists to create all of the visual details that we’ll need to bring Class3 to life.

Read on for more details!

Veteran Game Industry Artists to Help Realize ‘Faded Americana’ Setting of Zombie-Survival Game

SEATTLE – 20 October 2011 – Undead Labs, developer of online world games for console gamers, announced today that it had selected FUTUREPOLY Studios to provide art production services for its original zombie-survival franchise codenamed ‘Class3‘. Located in Seattle, Washington, FUTUREPOLY Studios is the game-production division of FUTUREPOLY, a digital-art school focusing on advanced training for professional video-game artists.

“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with our friends and long-time colleagues at FUTUREPOLY on Class3,” said Jeff Strain, founder of Undead Labs. “Many of the Team Zed artists have worked with the founders and principal instructors at FUTUREPOLY for close to a decade, and these guys are among the most talented and experienced artists in the business. They’ll also be bringing their elite students onto the project, so we get a team of great artists, and they get the chance to work with a veteran development team on a kickass zombie-survival game.”

Led by well-known game industry artists Jason Stokes and Levi Hopkins, FUTUREPOLY Studios will be working closely with Undead Labs Art Director Doug Williams to realize the beautiful post-apocalyptic world of Class3. Defining an artistic style Doug describes as ‘Faded Americana,’ Class3 avoids traditional urban and exotic game settings, and instead returns players to the heart of the zombie-surivival genre: small-town America.

“FUTUREPOLY has enjoyed great success with its core mission of offering video-game-art development courses taught by experienced industry professionals,” said Jason Stokes, founder of FUTUREPOLY. “Our instructors are some of the best known and most highly regarded game artists in the industry, and our students are universally talented game artists looking for the edge they need to be even better. With the launch of FUTUREPOLY Studios, we’re bringing that talent and experience together to offer superior game-art production services, and we can’t think of a better inaugural project than the ambitious zombie-survival franchise under development at Undead Labs.”

About Undead Labs

Undead Labs is a game development studio dedicated to creating a new class of online world games for console gamers. Founded in 2009 by MMO industry veteran Jeff Strain, Undead Labs is a creative studio built around the most talented—and zombie loving—developers in the industry. Based in Seattle, Washington, the studio’s singular focus is creating the definitive zombie-survival franchise for console gamers. The company’s inaugural game, currently in development, is an open world zombie-survival game for Xbox LIVE Arcade, published by Microsoft Studios. For more information, visit undeadlabs.com.

About FUTUREPOLY

FUTUREPOLY is a digital arts training studio specifically geared toward video game development. Sharing decades of professional experience, instructors offer a focused curriculum with an emphasis on real-world workflow solutions. FUTUREPOLY Studios is the game-production division of FUTUREPOLY, bringing together experienced industry game artists and selected students to provide game-art production services for top-tier video-games. For more information, visit futurepoly.com.

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CONTACT:

Jeff Strain (for Undead Labs)
contact@undeadlabs.com
Jason Stokes (for FUTUREPOLY)
jason@futurepoly.com

Some information relates to pre-released product which may be substantially modified before it’s commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
Undead Labs and the Undead Labs logo are trademarks of Undead Labs, LLC.
FUTUREPOLY, FUTUREPOLY Studios, and the FUTUREPOLY logo are trademarks of FUTUREPOLY, LLC.
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

AUTHOR: Emily DATE RECORDED: June 06, 2011 AT 11:59AM

Last week, I sat down with Zach from PlanetXbox360.com to chat about Class3 and Class4. We covered topics like environments, how player choices will affect the world, the importance of player communities, and more. Head over to their website to check out the full interview!

AUTHOR: Emily DATE RECORDED: April 21, 2011 AT 10:56AM

I recently chatted with Darren over at VGrevolution about preserving iconic zombie moments in the game, what makes Class3 and Class4 different than other online world titles, and more. To check out the interview, head over to their website!

AUTHOR: Emily DATE RECORDED: March 24, 2011 AT 12:49PM

Dread Central recently sat down with me to talk a bit more about Class3, the challenges of making games, and horror influences. To read what I had to say, head over here and check out the interview!

AUTHOR: Emily DATE RECORDED: March 24, 2011 AT 12:17PM

I recently sat down with the Bloody-Disgusting crew to talk a little bit about what sets Class3 apart from other zombie titles, the setting of our world, and more. To read what I had to say, head over here and check out the interview!

AUTHOR: Emily DATE RECORDED: March 04, 2011 AT 10:58AM

While he was down at GDC, Jeff sat down with the Massively crew to chat about our plans for Class3 and Class4. To read what he had to say, head over here and check out his interview.

AUTHOR: Emily DATE RECORDED: February 08, 2011 AT 20:14PM

It’s been a really exciting week for all of us here at the Lab! On Thursday, we spilled the beans about our partnership with Microsoft, announced our target console, and gave some early details about our plans to release not one but TWO games — code-named Class3 and Class4.

We’ve had a lot of fun watching the coverage about these announcements. Here are some of the highlights:

…in the past three years, we’ve crushed, shot, sliced, exploded and generally obliterated more virtual zombies than we could ever possibly hope to count throughout the fullness of time…That’s exactly where Class3 — a temporary codename, mind you, and a direct reference to Max Brooks’ seminal Zombie Survival Guide — sets itself apart. - Joystiq

Joystiq actually created four separate articles about the news, including an interview with Jeff and a gallery of Doug’s kick-ass concept art. One piece is exclusive to their site — can you spot it?

We want to create the definitive zombie survival experience,” Strain told us in an interview. “It hasn’t been done yet, and we think that there’s a tremendous game there to be made, and we want to be the ones to make it. - 1up

Keep an eye out for 1up’s exclusive posting of one of my personal favorite images. If an outbreak ever hits Seattle, this is where you’ll be able to find me.

And that wasn’t all folks had to say…

…better than a simple zombie shooter. There’ll still be guns and gore, of course, but there’ll be much more than that in store when Class3 comes calling on Xbox Live Arcade. – Kotaku

Sounds ambitious, and as a fan of horror and zombies (nope, still not getting old!), I can’t wait to see what they’re cooking up. – Destructoid

We believe starting from the ground up is the right way to make a full online world experience that feels at home on the console platform…” (Jeff Strain) insisted. — Eurogamer

…the game world changes in real-time and content becomes available depending on what players are doing. I’m not really sure exactly what this means in terms of gameplay, but I love the idea of a constantly evolving, zombie-filled open-world to explore and inhabit. Don’t you? – G4’s The Feed

Our core mission is to build a game around the question, ‘What would you do in the face of the zombie apocalypse?’” Strain told Ars. “We want to give you the freedom to test your own survival strategy… – Ars Technica

If you think of an MMO as a game that allows thousands of gamers to play together in a persistent online world that evolves and reacts over time to player actions, then we’re still making that game… – Gamasutra

We’re stoked to see all of the enthusiasm and well-wishes for the game, and are looking forward to being able to share even more details about what we’re working on in the near future! Stay tuned later in the week for brand new (not-so-rude) Q&A, where I’ll pull together a number of your most asked questions and hit up the team for answers.

Have a great night!

Emily

AUTHOR: Jeff DATE RECORDED: February 03, 2011 AT 12:00PM

Online Game Developer’s Inaugural Open World Title to Be Published by Microsoft Game Studios

SEATTLE – 3 February 2011 – Undead Labs, the premier developer of online world games for console gamers, announced today development of an original zombie-survival franchise in collaboration with Microsoft Corp. Developed by Undead Labs and published by Microsoft Game Studios, the inaugural title will be an open world zombie-survival game scheduled to launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft.

“Undead Labs is thrilled to work directly with Microsoft to bring Xbox 360 players an outstanding zombie-survival franchise,” said Jeff Strain, founder of Undead Labs. “Our mission is to create original online games that truly feel at home on the console platform, and Xbox 360 is a fantastic platform for online console gaming. We plan to create an ambitious open world XBLA game and use its gameplay, setting, and technology as the foundation for a full online world game.”

Code-named ‘Class3’, the Xbox LIVE Arcade game is designed to let zombie fans answer the ultimate question: What would you do in the face of the zombie apocalypse?

The end is here. Human civilization has been annihilated. The few, scattered survivors must band together, rebuilding civilization in a third-person action game packed with sweet guns, fast cars, hand-to-hand combat, and copious amounts of zombie gore. Players choose where to make their stand, designing and fortifying their settlements, performing daring raids for valuable stores of food and ammunition, and rescuing other playable survivors. The open world develops in real-time, shaped by player actions, with content determined by their choices and the ever-increasing zombie threat.

“We are proud to collaborate with Undead Labs on the creation of a new game for Xbox 360,” said Matt Booty, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios. “The Undead Labs team has a successful track record making innovative online games, and we are excited to support them as they bring their experience and talent to Xbox LIVE.”

The game is currently under development by Undead Labs’ veteran, zombie-loving studio team and additional details will be released throughout the development cycle. For more information, visit undeadlabs.com.

About Undead Labs

Undead Labs is a game development studio dedicated to creating a new class of online world games for console gamers. Founded in 2009 by MMO industry veteran Jeff Strain, Undead Labs is a creative studio built around the most talented—and zombie loving—developers in the industry. Based in Seattle, Washington, the studio’s singular focus is creating the definitive zombie-survival franchise for console gamers. The company’s inaugural game, currently in development, is an open world zombie-survival game for Xbox LIVE Arcade, published by Microsoft Game Studios. For more information, visit undeadlabs.com.

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CONTACT:

Anne Marie Stein | Jeane Wong
ONE PR Studio (for Undead Labs)
510-893-3271
annemarie@oneprstudio.com | jeane@oneprstudio.com

Some information relates to pre-released product which may be substantially modified before it’s commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
Undead Labs and the Undead Labs logo are trademarks of Undead Labs, LLC.
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.