It’s been over five years since developer Undead Labs released State of Decay 2, the zombie-themed survivor game, for the Xbox One console and PC platforms. Today, Undead Labs, which was acquired by Microsoft soon after State of Decay 2’s launch, announced a new free update for the game, but it will be largely created by a new dev team.
In an Xbox Wire post, it was announced that UK-based Wushu Studios will continue to develop and support State of Decay 2, as most of Undead Labs works on the previously announced State of Decay 3. The first Wushu update will be released for free on September 18.
This update is adding what is being labeled as “curveballs” to State of Decay 2, and is meant for gamers who might find playing the game repetitive after a while. The blog post states:
Housed in a new menu, curveballs will periodically appear – each with their own narrative attached – offering new objectives, rewards, enemy types and much more. Curveballs can be positive (like finding increased loot) or negative (like buffing regular zombies in multiple ways); they can be timed or objective based; they can affect enemies, your survivors, or other NPCs. Effectively, any element of the game you may have gotten comfortable with can, and often will, change.
Those changes will also be extended to the game’s zombies as well. “Curveballs” could cause the undead to generate stronger attacks, have improvements in eyesight and hearing, and could even cause them to explode or “carry a stench that suffocates and drains the stamina of any survivor up close.” The curveballs could also weaken zombies as well.
Even as State of Decay 2 is getting updated, Undead Labs is still working on the next game in the series, State of Decay 3. It was first announced in 2020, but since then there’s been little to no info on the game’s status.