From the outside looking in, it would appear that Undead Labs is a victim of mismanagement. The team was acquired by Xbox Game Studios in 2018, just weeks after the release of State of Decay 2. A sequel is set to land in 2027 after navigating a turbulent trajectory – revealed before it was ready for public consumption, development stalling during pre-production, challenges in shifting to Unreal Engine 5. The survival shooter finally opened its doors to public alpha testing earlier this spring.
Undead Labs didn't contribute any new games to the ecosystem in eight years. That's an irrefutable fact, which may speak to why Xbox just sold the studio as part of an internal reset. Although that doesn't mean the team hasn't been busy.
