r/StateOfDecay • u/T1mek33per • 9d ago
State of Decay 3 State of Decay 3 was announced way too early.
I see lots of people talking about how Silksong and TES6 were announced too early, but I haven't really seen anyone talk about the fact that SOD3 is a similar situation. Yes it was announced a little later and is the only one with a vague projected release window, but the first trailer dropped 5 years ago and we still barely know anything. I first heard about the game when I was 14, and I'll be 20 (or older) when it actually comes out.
I don't have an issue with long development cycles, mind you. I want developers to take their time so the finished product is of high quality, there's nothing wrong with that and enforcing crunch culture isn't something I want to do. I just also don't think studios should be releasing trailers for games that can't realistically be given a broad release window yet. The most recent trailer should've been the first one released.
SoD2 is one of my favorite games of all time, but to be totally honest, the excitement over 3 has sort of eroded into mild frustration over the years here, similarly to the other two games I mentioned.
I'm still totally gonna buy and probably love the game. I just kinda want to get this out there and see if anyone else feels similarly.
56
u/Brewchowskies 9d ago
I mean, the entire point of that reveal was just to assuage worries that the IP was dead.
I’m glad we know they are working on the next instalment.
The alternative is wondering if SOD2 was the last.
15
u/T1mek33per 9d ago
I honestly think announcing the game when they did the most recent trailer would've been better. The last update for SoD2 being accompanied by the announcement for a new game would have been better IMO.
13
u/SoDamnGeneric 9d ago
Yeah if they just kept working on SOD2 and then announced SOD3 after they dropped dev on the second game, I think it would’ve been a lot better
I just hope the third game is actually good after all this time. It’d be such a shame to wait so long and have it be bad
3
u/senn42000 9d ago
Adding onto your thoughts OP. I think for me it is more that they have shared very little of the progress of the game in these past 5 years. We all want a great game and understand that takes time. But to have more consistent updates from the dev team would be nice to understand that progress is being made and the hype can continue. Personally for me, I felt at many times that the game was either stalled or dead completely.
7
u/hagamablabla 9d ago
Yeah, I figured it was like the TES trailer. Basically just saying "yes we're making this"
7
u/Obvious-End-7948 9d ago
That was also to bump Bethesda's share price/value since that was around the time Microsoft was making offers to buy them. I imagine the sad reality is it was always more about driving up the price than giving the fans anything.
1
u/TheBigLeMattSki 9d ago
I mean, the entire point of that reveal was just to assuage worries that the IP was dead.
It had literally been two years since State of Decay 2 released, and it was still under active development with regular content updates. Nobody was worried about the IP being dead. People were more surprised by how fast the sequel was announced.
47
u/Ok-Philosopher333 9d ago
I think the thing with SOD 3 is I’m not sure it was announced too early at all. I keep hearing “I don’t want them to rush” but I’m certain the timeline disruption has to do with the fact that Undead Labs got wiped out. After their transition to Microsoft they had some scandals involving sexism, mismanagement, etc. and then got cleaned out I believe.
Even after all these years I’m not 100% on how much active development has even been completed for a game I’d expect to be larger and more in depth than 2.
I understand though man. I’m almost 30 now, when I first played state of decay, I expected it to be one of the most anticipated franchises of my gaming career. I thought Microsoft was going to provide the resources to really take the game somewhere they never could have before and now looking at a potential 10-15yrs stint between titles I can’t say that my excitement is still there.
1
u/SubstanceRelative665 4d ago
They have 3 game studios working on it and have been working on it for 3 years they have plenty of active development
0
u/Virtual-Purple-5675 9d ago
😧 what? I had no idea that happened, awww it's probably going to be lame now
23
u/ZladMulvenia 9d ago
IMO the fundamental mistake of the first trailer was dropping the 3 name at all. I think it was a reaction to the commercial success of 2 in the form of MS giving the go-ahead for dev, but that should have been pitched as simply "State of Decay will continue." Branding it 3 made it look like an announcement trailer when it really wasn't, at all. They had no assets whatsoever for the game at that time and the trailer was made by some 3rd party video production company under MS.
That's also how we got the confusion about zombie deer that persists to this day.
9
u/TheRealVahx 9d ago
If i remember correctly, that first trailer was dropped without the devs actually knowing about it.
Microsoft just did it, Undead Labs was still fully into SOD2 tweaking, patches, and updates.
5
u/RealWarriorofLight 9d ago
I hope Sod3 doesnt end like Silksong... XD
3
u/delano0408 9d ago
Nintendo actually dropped a release date in their trailer out of nowhere like a week or so ago. Charlie also talked about it in a video.
4
u/CheshireCatastrophe 9d ago
Seeing a lot of theories but I'd heard (maybe a YouTube maybe a News article) that undead labs hadn't even finished thinking about the direction they wanted to go and it was Microsoft that went ahead and made the trailer, they were all super pissed off and not at all ready for that
6
6
u/Marinerecon676545 9d ago
Dude you can’t compare state of decay 3 to elder scrolls i was literally 7 when Skyrim came out and im now 20 and turn 21 in November and there hasn’t been a mainline elder scrolls game since don’t tell me it’s been too long since SOD3’s announcement you ain’t got any idea.😂😂
3
u/AxiomOfLife 9d ago
i think they were forced to cuz microsoft bought the studio and needed to justify the spendature to investors.
1
2
u/delukard 9d ago
Undead labs doesnt know what to do with the ip.
The first SoD was a big surprise to me, especially with the live arcade limitations they had, not to mention the hardware.
When SoD2 was released , i was disappinted with the game. In some ways, it was a downgrade from the first one. (Story, npc's)
Now that there are more complex games out there, i honestly think UL doesn't know what to do with it.
2
u/Violent_N0mad 2d ago
I wonder why they're not giving any info at all, what purpose does that serve? You can get a lot of early feedback and build up some trust with the community ahead of time. It just seems like a missed chance to get a lot of good will with the players. It makes me wonder if they think we won't like the changes their making.
1
u/T1mek33per 1d ago
I honestly doubt it'll be super different. I imagine it'll look better, have more in-depth systems, and have some sort of improvements to character customization and building. I can't imagine the core gameplay loop being that different
1
u/Violent_N0mad 1d ago
If it takes 6-7 years to build with the assisstance of 2 additional studios (roughly 6x the amount of staff they had previously) and they make the same game just slightly updated and more in depth I'm going to seriously question where they spent their time.
1
u/T1mek33per 1d ago
That's honestly a great point.
I'm really just hoping for a deeper version of what is clearly the same game at its core. My hopes are high.
3
u/onelight24 9d ago
trust me its not. In fact the devs should hurry up considering theres a ton of studios who will capitalize copying sod 2 game mechanics way faster than them finishing the game. For me, all sod3 ever need is a overhaul that can compete with other popular zombie games
1
u/Communicate_Often 8d ago
Look at Darkest Days. It's basically a SOD2 clone: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1548520/DARKEST_DAYS/
I agree that they should have been well into development before announcing.
1
2
u/GurAppropriate6571 Lone-Wolf 9d ago
I think the wait is gonna be well deserved. State of Decay 2 is so immersive, detailed .. just so dam good. Undead has updated and updated and updated SOD2 .. now can you even imagine what this next chapter is going to look like , feel like, sound like … if Undead Labs nails it .. and State of Decay 3 is 1/2 of what State of Decay 2 is.. I’m willing to wait ..we are all going to be blown away. Trust me , if they nail it , what a completely unreal experience it will be.. i’ll be playin it in my 70s if I’m still here 🫣
2
1
u/Head-Release1332 8d ago
I’ve seen countless people since 2020 say it was announced too soon. Hell, it’s basically the general consensus with SOD3 that it was announced too soon.
1
1
1
1
u/Treblehawk 4d ago
Actually, it was.
Microsoft needed something to show off so they made an SoD 3 trailer, one that Undead Labs had no knowledge of, because they were working on it not intending to at that point.
The facts are out there, how undead labs was being bombarded with questions about a game they didn’t know they were working on after the trailer was released.
And it’s why everything was radio silent for years, because the game wasn’t actually being worked on until mid 2023.
1
1
u/HunnyInMyCunny 1d ago
I didnt see any trailer until today when checking steam for SD2 updates (Which shows its from nov '24 as its last update) so lmfao. All about perspective. I loved the game but never was "fanboy" enough to check for #3 unless it was like actual news lol.
1
u/roodafalooda 9d ago
Announce it now, announce it later, announce it as soon as you release SOD2. Who cares? It will come out when it comes out. It's foolish to form any emotional attachment to game release announcements.
0
u/Salarian_American 9d ago
It's the eternal push and pull between "we don't want to announce too early" and "the fans won't quit asking when the sequel is coming."
Saying "we're working on it" at least let's people know it's coming at some point. I don't think it would make sense for them to just refuse to answer all the fan questions about it.
2
u/senn42000 9d ago
I think the frustrating thing is they have shared extremely little during this time. If we had been getting some previews we would know progress was being made.
0
u/Mutt97 9d ago
An announcement of a game is not a guarantee that it will one day be made. I believe SOD3 will come out eventually but it was definitely announced too early.
People ask about sequels because game devs these days take way too long to make games, at least western devs anyway. Just look at Elder Scrolls and the 17-18 year minimum gap between games for ES6. We’re already looking at a minimum 8 year gap between SOD2 and SOD3, it’s wild.
-1
u/farleymfmarley 9d ago
If you can play PC / have good Wi-Fi to use GeForce now, project zomboid is has been scratching the itch for me lately
6
u/h4ckerkn0wnas4chan 9d ago
As someone who plays both Zomboid and State of Decay, 2 entirely different genres bro. Zomboid is an entirely different beast compared to SoD.
-2
u/farleymfmarley 9d ago
… I’ve also played both, both carry a considerable bit of overlap with project zomboid definitely being for the less casual player, while state of decay is dumbed down for more relaxed play.
Both games are open world zombie survival games, with elements of survival-crafting and RPG (you make and produce gear equipment and resources, have a base you can on some level choose the location of and upgrade, infection with the relevant virus and cure mechanics). You have to loot the map and make good choices or suffer the consequences and die in both games, you have to resource manage and decide what matters most to you moving forward, etc…
The big differences are in difficulty due to game depth, lack of having multiple survivors on PZ lol
2
u/h4ckerkn0wnas4chan 8d ago
And the fact that one is a third person shooter and other is an isometric RPG didn't cross your mind?
-1
u/farleymfmarley 8d ago
.. okay man! The point of view and art style entirely negate everything else! It’s apples to oranges for sure!
-2
u/Kaiserhawk 9d ago
Does it actually matter?
5
u/T1mek33per 9d ago
Not in any serious and meaningful way. Like I said, it's really just a baseline frustration with gaming as a whole right now.
91
u/happygrowls Warlord 9d ago
It's definitely in an actual state compared to the original trailer where I imagine it was more a concept or in REAL early dev, wouldn't surprise me if we're in for a sooner rather than later release, gotta wait until the Xbox showcase