State of Decay 3 paused as studio grapples with discrimination claims

state of decay 3 It has been in pre-production for the past two years, Kotaku reportswhile Undead Labs has transformed from an independent and ambitious studio into a first-party Xbox developer battling big industry problems, such as a toxic workplace, discrimination, and burnout.

In fact, reports from Kotaku and Undead Labs were pressured to announce state of decay 3 At the Xbox Game Show in July 2020 Before the developers feel the game is ready for it. This was followed by a rushed internal demo of Microsoft’s leadership, said Undead Labs veterans, precipitating their sense of disarray.

state of decay 3According to unnamed sources cited by Kotaku, there were supposed to be two more internal demonstrations in the fall of 2021, and studio director Philip Holt was named as Undead Labs chief of staff after Microsoft Acquired the studio in 2018Both wanted to include the actual gameplay. The developers “revolted”, according to the report, considering the work and crisis needed to bring the project to such a state. While Holt relented, the developers said the turmoil was still pushing a lot of Undead Labs veterans out the door.

“If that’s what pre-production was like, there’s no way I would have stuck to full production,” an anonymous developer told Kotaku.

state of decay 3 It still doesn’t have an official release date or window. The 2020 Xbox Game Show trailer was infamous for a prequel trailer that was housed on a zombie deer, seen through a crossbow scope.

“They’re still in square one with a lot of stuff,” said another developer. at the same time, Comprehensive Kotaku Report Undead Labs was portrayed as full of internal opposition and mistrust over issues of discrimination and misconduct, which many workers felt neglected by the new Microsoft chief.