Undead Labs

using our brains to save yours

The Big Picture

by Sanya

As I hinted in the last newsletter, we’ve been working out (in partnership with our publisher) what we can say and when. The first teaser dropped last night on the publisher’s official State of Decay Instagram. Between now and PAX East, we’re going to be showing you a regular glimpse of concept art, followed by a post either here on or on the official State of Decay game website with the big picture, and maybe a little detail explaining what we had in mind when we did it.

I hope it helps tide you over while we finish working on the systems and gameplay, and that you enjoy this look into what we were thinking when we began the build.

Today’s Big Picture is…

Read More

It’s Going To Be An Undead New Year

by Jeff Strain

Hello fellow survivors. (It’s been a long time since I last typed that…)

It’s traditional to close out the year with the phrase, “Happy new year!” Usually we say that speculatively, as in, “Boy I sure do hope we have a happy year next year!” But sometimes we might have a reason to actually believe it will be a happy year next year. For those of us here at Undead Labs, we’re looking at a ton of hard work next year (multiple metric tons of tons, more realistically), some late-night panics, a few “oh my god oh my god” meetings, a sprinkling of bug-count out-to-the-woodshed sessions courtesy of our QA team, and some assorted last-minute design or tech change freak outs. And all that can mean only one thing: we’re driving toward the release of State of Decay 2 next year, and that will make it a very happy year indeed.

Read More

Halloween Costume Contest!

by Sanya

If you are signed up for our newsletter, you’ve already seen the newest way you can get into SOD2: The Halloween Costume Contest. The grand prize? We’ll turn your costume into an outfit in the game.

The Rules:

  1. We’re looking for survivors, not zombies. Feel free to enter as a zombie (see below), just know you’re not eligible for the grand prize.
  2. To avoid licensing problems and pesky lawsuits, please don’t use (or strategically cover) any brands or logos that are not State of Decay or Undead Labs.
  3. These pictures need to be PG by the standards of the USA. That means weapons are fine, but nudity is not.
  4. Entering means you are giving the Lab permission to share the photos.
  5. The deadline for you to email me a full-length picture of yourself in your costume is October 25th. We will be choosing winners first thing in the morning on October 26. Send your submission (one per person) to sanya at undeadlabs dot com
  6. Winners, plural? Why, yes. In addition to the grand prize winner selected by the judges, I’ll send a t-shirt to the Community Choice poll winner, and decals to three randomly chosen people who enter any costume picture, survivor or zombie.
  7. Our community is global, so even if you live somewhere without Halloween, we’d love for you to enter the contest anyway!

Get dressed up, and get in the game!

Life After Zombies: The Fear

Librarian’s Note: I found this hand-written letter on the front doorstep of the library this morning, stuffed in an unmarked envelope. I have no idea who wrote it, and no one saw who dropped it off. Regardless of the author, I just hope it’s nothing more than a really cruel joke. If it’s not, I’m afraid I have one more reason to be terrified of living in this valley.

Read More