Undead Labs completes spinoff from Xbox, becomes employee-owned indie studio
State of Decay 3 developer finalizes independence after Microsoft's July layoffs and studio spinoff announcement.
What to know
- Undead Labs, maker of State of Decay, has completed its separation from Xbox and Microsoft after over a decade of ownership, becoming fully independent and employee-owned.
- State of Decay 3 development continues unchanged: alpha phase now, closed beta before year-end, targeting 2027 launch on PS5, Xbox, and PC with Game Pass inclusion.
- The spinoff is part of Xbox's July restructuring involving layoffs and studio divestitures; other studios like Ninja Theory failed to secure independence deals and now face potential closure.
“State of Decay exists because millions of players have made that choice over the years, and we're dedicated to honoring their trust.”
Philip Holt, Undead Labs studio head · Kotaku ↗ · Sep 21
Undead Labs Game studio / State of Decay developerPhilip Holt Undead Labs studio headMicrosoft / Xbox Former parent company
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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State of Decay 3 development continues under new structure
Undead Labs confirmed State of Decay 3 remains in alpha development with a closed beta planned before year-end and a 2027 launch targeted for PS5, Xbox, and PC. The game will continue arriving on Game Pass.
“Independence brings us closer to our community and lets us focus on what matters most: making the best games we can and earning the continued support of the people who choose to spend their time with us.”
— Philip Holt, Undead Labs studio head · source -
first by IGN, 1d ago · also Kotaku
2 more headlines
- State Of Decay 3 Studio Announces It’s Now Free From Xbox And Employee-Owned Kotaku · 1d ago
- Undead Labs confirms it is now an “employee-owned studio” GamesIndustry.biz · 1d ago
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Going indie still doesn't save them from Microsoft's stench After separating from Xbox, State of Decay 3 developer Undead Lab has gone independent and employee-owned, but there's some bad news https://www. eurogamer.net/undead-labs-inde pendent-xbox-restructuring-state-of-decay # Xbox # StateOfDecay3 # UndeadLabs # Indie # Labor # Layoffs # Gaming
2 more of the top 3 · 4 posts in this stretch
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Undead Labs (the State of Decay folks) was spun off from MS during the 'refresh' and now is independent but also had to lay off a bunch of folks. To be callously frank, they've been working on State of Decay 3 for a LONG time (it was 1st announced in 2020) & it's not hard for me to imagine they were over-engineering things since they had MS's deep…
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Undead Labs and State of Decay 3 are now masters of their own destiny. Developer announces completed separation from XBOX. https://www. stateofdecay.com/undead-labs-b ecomes-independent-studio/
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background
Undead Labs completes separation from Xbox — Undead Labs officially finalized its separation from Microsoft and Xbox after more than a decade under Xbox ownership, becoming a fully independent, employee-owned company.
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background
Xbox announces layoffs and studio spinoff plans — Microsoft's Xbox division announced plans to lay off thousands of employees and spin off certain game studios to allow them to become independent. Undead Labs was identified as one of the studios targeted for this transition.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by ixbt.games, 1d ago · also Insider Gaming, Wccftech, GameSpot
3 more headlines
- State of Decay 3 Still Planned for Release on XBOX Game Pass Insider Gaming · 1d ago
- Undead Labs Regains Freedom in the Big Xbox Reset, yet State of Decay 3 Still Ships Day-One on Game Pass Wccftech · 1d ago
- State Of Decay 3 Lives On, And Is Still Coming To Game Pass GameSpot · 1d ago
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first by The Verge, 1d ago · also IGN, Eurogamer
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first by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, 1d ago · also IGN
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first by Polygon.com, 1d ago · also Polygon
and 1 smaller piece
What people are saying 1 voices from 1 site · best of 4 · verbatim
- Sep 22
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Undead Labs [State of Decay 3] is now an independent studio and employee owned https://www. resetera.com/threads/1640194 # gaming # videogames # resetera