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Gameplay Basics - Version 14 vs Version 15
Aug 7, 2026, 09:02 AM
Added the three confirmed vehicle classes with their stated trade-offs, plus vehicle and gear skins
Aug 7, 2026, 09:06 AM
Added 1 official screenshot from the 2026 gameplay reveal
11Overview22State of Decay 3 keeps the series' core loop: scout the world, scavenge supplies, defend a base, and manage a community of survivors while staying alive against the undead. The game is described as an open-world survival experience set years after a zombie apocalypse, where the choices a player makes affect in-game events and the fates of survivors in their settlement.44The Core Loop66Day to day, players move between three repeating activities. They explore the surrounding map for resources and information, they bring those resources back to a home base to upgrade facilities and craft gear, and they defend that home base from the threats that the world throws at it. Each scavenging trip carries real risk, because each survivor in the community is a unique character whose death is permanent.88What Makes Each Run Different1111Several systems make the moment-to-moment experience vary between sessions. Survivors are individuals with different traits, so the same task feels different depending on who is sent to do it. The world is picked-over and salvage is finite, so squeezing more value from what is found becomes more important than looting endlessly. Co-op groups can split up across the map and pursue different objectives at the same time.1313Game Pillars1616PillarWhat It Means In PlayScavengingThe world is post-apocalyptic and most clean factory loot is gone. Players gather components from a wrecked civilization rather than picking up complete weapons.CombatConfrontations with zombies are central. Combat is built in Unreal Engine 5 with reactive responses, modified weapons, and vehicle attacks.Base BuildingA home base is the center of operations. The base is upgraded over time and is one of the systems most rebuilt for the third entry.Survivor CommunityEach survivor is unique, and the cost of losing one is felt by the others in the community.Co-opUp to four players can share a world, with everyone moving freely instead of being tethered to a host.1818What to Expect From the Closed Alpha1919The May 2026 closed alpha playtest focuses on four-player co-op, base building, resource strategy, and combat. It is intended as a slice of these systems rather than a full campaign experience, and Undead Labs has indicated that further playtest waves will follow throughout the year.2121Open-World Survival Loop2424The day-to-day loop in State of Decay 3 has three repeating activities. Players explore the surrounding map for resources and information, they bring those resources back to a home base to upgrade facilities and craft modified gear, and they defend that home base from the threats the world throws at it. Each scavenging trip carries real risk, because every survivor in the community is a unique character whose death is permanent, and the wider community visibly reacts to any survivor who is lost.2626Choices Have Lasting Weight2828The game is framed as an open-world survival experience where the choices a player makes affect in-game events and the fates of survivors in their settlement. That includes choices made under combat pressure, like which survivor to send into a fight, and slower-burn choices, like which facility to build first at a base or which neighbour to recruit. The expanded narrative systems around permadeath mean a bad decision in any of those moments can show up later in how the survivor community talks about its losses.3030Co-Op as a First-Class Mode3232Up to four players can share a single world through untethered Online Co-Op, and the four-player squad can mix players on Xbox Series X|S with players on PC across Steam and the Microsoft Store via Cross-Platform Play. Co-op runs the same survival loop as solo play, with the same combat stakes and the same enemies, so a four-player squad is splitting the same risks rather than playing a separate mode.3434Why the Series Identity Matters Here3636The series identity has always been the combination of a meaningful community and a punishing world, so the basic loop is designed to make those two pieces touch every session. Scavenging is what feeds the base, the base is what shelters the community, the community is what makes a death matter, and the death is what makes the next scavenging trip more careful. Cutting any of those links would weaken the others, which is why the third entry's marquee changes (untethered co-op, expanded permadeath narrative, Unreal Engine 5 combat) are all aimed at the same loop rather than at separate modes.3838Keeping the Plague in Check4040One change the studio has stressed for the third game is that the plague cannot be ignored. Players will not be able to fully wall themselves into a base and wait out the apocalypse, because the plague threat grows in power if it is left unchecked. That pushes communities to keep pressing out into the world rather than turtling up, which ties the scavenging loop directly to holding the infestation back.4242Vehicles and Territory4444Vehicles are more than transport. The official screenshot set released with the 2026 gameplay reveal shows players refuelling a vehicle, which makes fuel a resource the player manages rather than an abstraction, and a second published image shows a heavily armored car driving through misty forest streets. Armored sedans also appear in the 2024 trailer captures. No vehicle list, handling model or upgrade path has been published.4646The publisher's storefront listings also give the loop a stated goal beyond staying alive: reclaim territory, scavenge, build, and fight to create safety for your community. That reads as the counterpressure to the plague growing when it is left alone, and it is the clearest public statement that the map is meant to be pushed back rather than simply survived.4848The loop also flexes to fit the group. A dedicated single-player mode is part of the third game because most players chose to play solo in the earlier entries, and the world scales up in difficulty as more players join a session, so the same systems read very differently for a lone survivor and a full four-player squad.5050A Larger Open World5252At the June 2026 reveal the studio said the open world is about four times the size of a single map from the previous game in the series, and that it is fully open to the player from the moment they join rather than being unlocked in pieces. The game is aiming for a 2027 release. A bigger, immediately-open map gives a four-player squad more room to split up across the world while the survival loop of scavenge, build, and defend stays the same.5454Confirmed Vehicle Classes5656Driving is a larger part of the game than its billing suggests. The studio looked at play data from the previous entry and found that roughly 20 to 30 percent of playtime was spent behind the wheel, and it expects that share to rise in the third game because the world is substantially bigger.5858Rather than filling the map with a long list of cars, the studio has said it deliberately kept the roster small and made each vehicle utilitarian, so that picking one is a real trade-off. Three classes have been described.6061ClassStrengthsTrade-offSedanFast, with good fuel economy.Limited carrying capacity and no off-road ability.SUVHandles off-road, with good storage capacity.Worse fuel economy than a sedan.Cargo vanThe largest hauler, able to carry very large loads.Described by the studio as having terrible fuel economy.6263Because fuel is a consumable and vehicles need refuelling, the choice of car is tied to what a run is for: a fast light trip to grab medicine is a different vehicle problem from a bulk supply haul. The studio has also described cars as a mobile base and a place of safety, the thing a survivor retreats to when an encounter turns bad.6364Cosmetic skins are in development for vehicles, and the same pipeline covers characters, backpacks and other gear. The vehicle shown in the reveal trailer carries one of these test skins, along with accumulated mud on the bodywork. No pricing, unlock method or customisation depth has been described for skins.6566What Is Not yet Public6768Mission structure: whether story missions, side missions, dynamic events, or all of the above drive the open world.Day and night cycle behaviour and whether enemy density shifts with time of day.The vehicle roster, handling model, and upgrade path, since only refuelling and armored cars have been shown.The exact region count and biome variety on offer at launch (the overall map is about four times the size of a single map from the previous game in the series).6970Status7172Specific numbers for stamina, hunger, day/night cycles, and similar mechanics have not been publicly confirmed for the third game and will be filled in as the alpha and post-alpha reveals make them concrete.
