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State of Decay comes to the PC courtesy of Steam
PC gamers feeling left out while watching their Xbox comrades playing State of Decay can wipe those tears away; the zombie survival title has arrived on Steam. State of Decay is available through the digital distribution platform for a straight-up $19.99. If you're curious about Undead Labs' maiden game, then check out our hands-on coverage. The game was a huge hit on the Xbox and hopefully will be followed by an MMO set in the same world. Undead is also preparing the first DLC for State of Decay called Breakdown that will come to both the PC and Xbox. [Thanks to Soren for the tip!]
Steam enters a State of Decay next week
State of Decay is crawling its way onto Steam as a fully-fledged Windows PC game, coming out of Early Access next week on November 5. Going by the Steam page, the Undead Labs concoction will be priced $20. State of Decay proved a breakout hit on Xbox Live Arcade, with a million would-be survivors plunging themselves into its zombified open world. It then came to Steam Early Access as a controller-only build, but don't fret, because Undead Labs eventually patched in keyboard and mouse support for WASD-wanters. The XBLA version gobbled up a very respectable three-and-a-half stars in our review, with our Crazy Dave Hinkle deeming it " a nice vacation away from the societal constraints of your everyday, zombie-free life."
State of Decay hits a million, 'Breakdown' DLC planned for late October
"Run away" hit State of Decay has reached sales of one million units across Xbox Live Arcade and Steam Early Access. The game reached the half-million sales mark within a few weeks of its June 5 launch on XBLA. State of Decay: Breakdown, the first expansion for the zombie survival simulator, has been delivered to Microsoft for "pre-certification testing." The team at Undead Labs hopes to have feedback and officially submit the expansion by the end of next week. "Assuming no catastrophes, we plan on getting Breakdown into your hands by the end of October," wrote Undead Labs' founder, Jeff Strain, on the company's blog. State of Decay is expected to exit early access status on PC by the end of the year.
State of Decay breaks it down on Steam Early Access tomorrow
State of Decay launches on Steam Early Access tomorrow, September 20, for $20. Undead warns that the Early Access version is not final – it may still crash and it doesn't support keyboard and mouse input yet. Players must use an Xbox 360 controller or similarly compatible gamepad for now. Undead will post keyboard interfaces in progress and use player feedback to perfect those before going live. "This process is not for everyone," Undead writes. "Casual players, the easily frustrated, and the short of time should not get the Early Access version. Hey, I am all three of those things, y'all. Those are not criticisms. It's just that we want everyone to have the experience that best suits their needs." The full version of State of Decay will launch later this year, and Early Access players will of course get that for free, with no need to restart. We found State of Decay on Xbox 360 to be technically frustrating, but an enjoyable zombie survival experience – as enjoyable as such grimness can be, anyway.
State of Decay to hit Steam Early Access in 'a couple of weeks'
Early Access to the zombifed landscape of State of Decay is coming in a "couple of weeks." Undead Labs Director of Community Samya Weathers said this week that there's no exact date for the keyboard-only Steam Early Access version, while the full keyboard-and-mouse game is still due for the PC portal later this year. If you're wondering what Undead Labs is planning beyond State of Decay, including its posited MMO sequel Class4, the Seattle-based studio is working that all out right now. "Discussions of future games are ongoing," said Weathers. "As in, going on now. Thank you from the bottom of all our hearts here at the Lab for making SoD a success, or these conversations wouldn't be happening!" State of Decay passed 500,000 sales shortly after hitting Xbox Live Arcade, and it looks like it's nearing the million mark; we see 938,000-plus players registered on the leaderboards. That's why those conversations are happening.
State of Decay patch fixes large survivor community glitch
Undead Labs has issued another patch for State of Decay on Xbox Live, addressing issues related to gathering a large number of survivors. Prior to the patch, the game would crash, freeze up the console or would fail to load altogether for some in-game survivor collectors. While the majority of players will see this issue resolved with the update, Undead Labs warns that some may need to restart their game, "especially if you had a very large community relatively early in the map progression." Complete patch notes are available on the game's official website.
MMO Burnout: State of Decay
With an all-star dev team steering the ship, Undead Labs' State of Decay is topping sales charts and impressing fans, but it's certainly not done yet. The single-player zombie survival game for the Xbox 360 was created by several ArenaNet alumni (including ANet co-founder Jeff Strain) and aims to one day release an MMO version titled Class4. But in the meantime, it's breaking XBL sales records and showing us all how a decaying game premise like zombie survival can gain new life. I grabbed the game at launch to give me an idea of what to eventually expect from Class4, but I was quite surprised at what I found. A console game with a living world? A single-player action RPG with purpose and incentive? That's just what you get when you interrupt traditional console game development with a few designers from this crazy new genre known as MMORPG.
Saints Row 4 up for Australian classification re-review next week
Saints Row 4's down under scrutiny will occur again next week, as the over-the-top sandbox crime game attempts a second run by the Australian Classification Board. The ACB banned the game last month, raising issues over its depiction of drug use and an "alien anal probe." Publisher Deep Silver previously said it was planning to re-submit a re-worked version of the game - apparently a "low violence" one going by Steam Australia. That re-review is now confirmed and dated for this time next week on July 29, and hopefully it's a decision that leaves both parties satisfied. Saints Row 4 was the first to be banned in the country after the government passed the law permitting R18+ games for adult audiences. The second game, banned a day after Saints Row 4, was State of Decay. Thankfully, Undead Labs' own reworked version came through its re-review earlier this month, and the developer expects to bring the XBLA game Australia's way on Friday, July 26.
State of Decay PC coming in 2013
State of Decay, XBLA's shambling hit that's sold over a half a million copies since its June 5 launch, will make its way to PC sometime this year. Undead Labs founder Jeff Strain confirmed the detail in a recent livestream, with plans to narrow down that five-month window as soon as possible. The game will launch as part of Steam's Early Access program and will initially only have controller support. The final PC version will "of course" support mouse and keyboard. Strain also teased an upcoming sandbox mode, saying, ""The goal of sandbox is to provide an unbounded experience, one with no victory condition that ends the game. The way we do that is to continue to have a world with finite resources, but find out 'how long can I stay alive.'" Undead Labs plans to detail the sandbox mode sometime in the next week.
State of Decay gets Australian R18+ rating second time around
State of Decay passed its Australian Classification Board re-review with R18+ colors, confirming the ACB says no to drugs but yes-alright-then to vitamins. The XBLA horror was denied entry to Australia after the ACB waggled its finger at the depiction of drug use, so dev Undead Labs changed the game's "stimulants" to "supplements" and re-submitted it. Lo and behold, the game can now be sold in Oz, and in its announcement of the approval Undead said, "Stay tuned for more news tomorrow." State of Decay was the second game to be banned in Australia since the R18+ rating's introduction, the first being none other than Saints Row 4. Developer Volition plans to submit a re-worked version of that game to the ACB, namely a "low violence" one if Steam Australia is anything to go by.
Undead Labs double taps plans for State of Decay multiplayer
State of Decay developer Undead Labs has been "thoroughly evaluating the possibility of adding co-op multiplayer" to the game and apparently determined that there isn't one. Co-op multiplayer was originally planned for the game, but ultimately scrapped as Undead Labs thought its inclusion could delay the launch of State of Decay for as much as half a year. An update on the developer's forums dashes all hopes that multiplayer might've someday made it into the Xbox Live Arcade hit. In an update on the forums, "Undead Jeff" explains that it would take close to nine months to get multiplayer into the game. "We could 'check the box' and shoehorn multiplayer in sooner than that, but it wouldn't be a great experience, and certainly not one we'd be proud of," he explains. On top of that, pursuing multiplayer would inhibit Undead Labs' ability to support the game with further title updates and DLC. As for future games, "Undead Jeff" says, "Multiplayer will be the absolute heart of any future State of Decay games. As many of you know, we've always had ambitious plans for the future of State of Decay, and those plans have not changed."
State of Decay tries again to please Aussie ratings board
State of Decay is up for re-review at the Australian Classification Board, and developer Undead Labs is "feeling pretty optimistic" about getting approval this time around. Going by a recent Facebook post, the sandbox horror's revised version says so long to stimulants, replacing them with "supplements." The ACB originally refused entry to the XBLA breakout hit because of its depiction of drug use, a matter Saints Row 4 fell afoul of, too. "Who could possibly not like vitamins? They're good for you," reads Undead's post. While it waits to hear from the ACB about vitamins that may well include A, C, and B, the Seattle-based studio is keeping itself busy with the game's upcoming PC version. However, Undead doesn't expect to share any news on that for a while yet.
State of Decay fights back with second patch
Undead Labs, developer of State of Decay, has issued another title update hoping to strip away some of the unsightly crud clinging to the Xbox Live Arcade game. The update is substantial, enabling a V-sync option designed to eliminate screen tearing. It also addresses pathing issues for zombies and soldiers in "The Armory" mission, improves analog stick sensitivity when aiming and squashes a bug that prevented story progression involving one of the survivors, Quentin. This second update follows a first attempt by Undead Labs to address some of the technical issues plaguing State of Decay. After its debut earlier this month, State of Decay has been quite the success, reaching 250,000 copies sold in its first 48 hours and eclipsing half a million in sales as of last week. An MMO sequel, codenamed Class4, has always been planned at Undead Labs, though it's currently stuck in limbo at Microsoft.
State of Decay refused Aussie classification, Saints Row 4 ban detailed
Runaway (and "Run away!") hit State of Decay has been refused classification in Australia. And here you thought these stories were done. "We've run afoul of certain prohibitions regarding the depiction of drug use," writes Undead Labs' founder Jeff Strain on the game's forum. "We're working with [publisher] Microsoft to come up with options, including changing names of certain medications in the game to comply with ratings requirements. Whatever our path forward, it's going to take a bit." Coincidentally, the apocalyptic world of Fallout 3 ran into the same drug-naming issue with the Australians back in 2008. After some editing, the game was suitable for distribution. "Microsoft is currently evaluating the options with regards to the title's classification," a spokesperson for the publisher told Joystiq. "The Australian Classification system plays an important role in ensuring that Australians can only access age-appropriate games and content." Strain acknowledged as much in his post, saying, "I know this is frustrating – believe me, we're frustrated too – but each country has the right to set its own rules about content, and it's our responsibility to comply with them. Rest assured we'll do everything we can to find a way to get the game into your hands."
State of Decay MMO sequel, Class4, in limbo at Microsoft
State of Decay developer Undead Labs can't begin working on its follow-up game, an MMO called Class4, until it agrees with Microsoft on a series of terms about future technology, support and goals, Undead's community director Sanya Weathers told Eurogamer. Microsoft owns the IP for Class4, following a deal that funded and developed State of Decay, Weathers said: "We cannot begin working on Class4 without a greenlight from Microsoft ... and a mutually agreeable contract." Undead is still talking with Microsoft about the specifics of Class4. State of Decay was originally called Class3, and Undead viewed it as the first step toward that larger MMO project, Undead founder Jeff Strain told us in 2011. "The minute-by-minute core of the game will all be there in Class3," Strain said. "The only thing it won't have is the massive player participation the sequel will have." Today, Weathers explained the negotiations with Microsoft regarding Class4. "We have to agree on where we think the technology is going to be in a few years (since the game will take a few years to develop); we have to agree that we have the same goals; and we have to agree on how we'll collectively run and support the final game," Weathers said. State of Decay is doing well – since its launch on June 5, it's been crowned the fastest-selling original game on Xbox Live Arcade, ever, with 500,000 sales. We found State of Decay's premise and vibe to be tense (in a mostly good way), but we ran into some technical issues that Undead is currently having problems patching.
State of Decay sells over half a million copies, update being re-patched
State of Decay has sold over half a million copies since launching on Xbox Live Arcade on June 5. This makes the Undead Labs developed game the fastest selling original title ever on Xbox Live Arcade, according to Microsoft. But everything isn't headshots and restful nights with State of Decay, as the game's first title update did experience some hiccups. XBLA Fans reports the patch on Friday night didn't do everything as intended. Undead Labs' founder Jeff Strain went to the company forums and said, "Reports started coming in that other bugs we had verified internally as fixed were apparently not fixed on the live version of the game." No word yet when that patch will be patched. The game is currently in development for a PC release on Steam. Strain says Undead Labs "just need to integrate with the Steam platform and add native support for keyboard and mouse control."
Undead Labs still negotiating with Microsoft on Class4 MMO
Undead Labs' latest game for Xbox Live, State of Decay, is a resounding success. The game moved over 250,000 copies in its first 48 hours of release, landing it the title of "Fastest Selling Xbox Live Game that isn't Minecraft." However, one successful game does not guarantee another, and Undead is still at the mercy of Microsoft when it comes to getting its next game off the ground. The studio is set to begin work on Class4, an MMO follow-up to State of Decay, but cannot proceed until Microsoft gives it the go-ahead. According to Undead's Sanya Weathers, none of this can happen until the two parties reach a "mutually agreeable contract." She also noted that the two companies must agree on the goals of the project and on where the technology will be by the time Class4 finishes its multi-year development cycle. According to Weathers, the discussion between Microsoft and Undead is "in progress."
State of Decay sells over 250k units in first 48 hours
Undead Labs' zombie survival simulator State of Decay sold "more than a quarter million copies" within the first two days of its availability on Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade platform, the developer announced on its official blog. "The only game that ever sold more on XBLA this fast was Minecraft," the update reads. "We are not just riding on this train, however! We're never going to stop pushing to make the best games we can. If you're wondering what we're working on to make this game even better, please check out Jeff's Title Update post." Said title update resolves several bugs and makes minor tweaks to various gameplay mechanics; it is expected to go live sometime next week.
State of Decay review: Don't stop
Don't stop or you'll die. This is the prevailing theme of State of Decay, Undead Labs' sandbox survival-horror game for Xbox Live Arcade. It's a game focused on the chores of survival in a post-apocalyptic world: scavenging for supplies in vacant buildings; trading with and aiding neighboring groups; comforting and managing emotional states of your own survivors; and, of course, dealing with the occasional zombie attack on your home. State of Decay is constantly pulling you in many directions, making it difficult to decide what mission you should take next or what resource you should hunt down. The deluge of missions, radio messages and scavenging cycles never stops, and the hostile nature of the environment itself hardly provides incentive for pause to soak in the scenery.%Gallery-190683%
State of Decay gets June 5th release date
While the news of State of Decay's release date was leaked out recently, today we have official confirmation. Undead Labs' maiden game will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday, June 5th. Founder Jeff Strain took to the official blog a couple of days ago to talk about the process of deciding upon and cementing a release date. "After that, our job is not done," he wrote. "We have a PC build of the game to finish and deliver. We will certainly want to fix a few bugs that slipped through (we saw a few in the video streams today that we jumped on immediately). And we have super secret plans for a few other treats to roll out in the future that Sanya would shoot me for even mentioning." So while it's not the MMO that will hopefully be forthcoming, it is set in the same world and it made a great showing at last year's PAX Prime.
