State of Decay 3 Studio Head REVEALS EXCLUSIVE NEW DETAILS

Yeah, I will say for State of K3, you're gonna not be able to ignore the plague threat. You can't just sit in your base and be like, I'm just going to manage my community and ignore the world out there. It's it's coming for you. First trailer back in 2020, there was zombie deers, snow, there was camping. There was a lot of elements. >> There really wasn't a game when we were working on that trailer. Like, it was so early. >> There wasn't even a team. >> I mean, there was like four or five people. This is not scripted. And as you play the game, you're gonna encounter scenarios that hearken back to your favorite comic or your favorite TV series, favorite zombie movie. I think, you know, I've worked on a lot of games in my career, and this is the most fun, the best looking, the most performant game that I've ever been a part of. >> If I didn't ask this question, everyone over there is going to be really mad at me. So, I have to ask, even though I do know the answer, you're going to ask me about my ship date. >> With that, can you give us any information on a release date or release window for State of K3? Guys, the time has arrived. We have exclusive information regarding State of Decay 3 in today's video. We also have an alpha test every single one of you can sign up for down with the link below. Now, if you guys don't know me, my name is Sunny and I was recently flown down to Seattle and I got to meet with the head of Undead Labs, Philip Hull, where I got to ask him about the upcoming game. And I got to say, he had a ton of cool information to share with us. We also have exclusive screenshots that I'm going to pepper throughout this interview where you guys can really check out what the game is looking like. I'm not going to waste any more time. Let's get straight into it. I'm really excited to be here with Philip Holt himself here. This is the uh this is the man. Philip, if you don't mind uh introducing yourself. >> Sure. Uh my name is Philip. I'm studio head here at Undead Labs. Been here for about seven years. Been in uh the industry for an embarrassing long time, like over 30 years. So, um yeah, really really happy to have you join us at Undead Labs. This is a moment that we've been really excited about. Um just to be resume our conversation with the community. We're uh big fans of your channel and uh so we're happy to have this conversation. Excited for it. >> All right. All right. So, we're going to start with a big question. One of the things that I think a lot of people will be interested to know is how has the game evolved from State of Decay 1 to two and now with three. >> Yeah. So, I'll give you maybe two ways to think about that. Uh, one is just like the time setting of the games. So, State of Decay 1 took place maybe like a couple of weeks after the zombie outbreak. State of Decay 2 was maybe a year or so later, year and a half, something like that. We've always been kind of non-specific about the actual time time settings. Uh this is when sort of government had fallen apart and you're really on your own. Uh and your job is to sort of find some other communities to survivors to ally with. State of the K3 goes years into the future. So you know the group of survivors now has become a little bit more hardened. They've seen their share of death. The zombie menace is now presenting itself in a new way. curtains up on State of the Day K3 and your group of survivors has to really adapt to what they're seeing >> in a more dangerous way. >> Much more dangerous way. Yeah, for sure. 100%. So, yeah, the threats are going to are real. They're lethal and they're coming after you. So, that's sort of the time setting. Uh, another way to sort of think about the franchise and how it's evolving. I would say like one thing that we talk about a lot internally is there was a real heart and soul to State of Decay 1 uh and the characters and sort of the story they were able to tell. >> State of Decay 2 really tried to push more with systemic gameplay and sort of procedural generated procedurally generated characters and give players like an uh more of a sandbox experience that we loved. Uh, and so we talk about State of K3 of like delivering on the systemic features from State of K2 with a little bit more of the heart and soul of State of Decay 1. Um, so maybe that's a way to sort of think about how the franchise is evolving. All right. So the one thing that a lot of people might be surprised about, I guess we're we're announcing this a little bit is uh there was a player council. I am part of that player council. Me and some other creators. We're not going to share who. If those guys want to come out and say who they are, they can. uh with the player council. That's basically a group of us who have come in and have been along the ride here for about a year. What can you tell us about what the player council is and what their kind of goal is uh to be alongside you guys in this development process? >> Yeah, super excited to be able to reveal that we've been working with a a group of people from our audience uh that have been in the build now for the better part of a year. We've been playing it for a bit >> and have seen how the build has evolved even in that period of time. It has it was probably a little rough when you got there. You're probably a little worried about, oh my god, what's happening? But then you can see >> I was I was really worried actually and then now it's like whoa. Okay, you see you see the vision. It's awesome. >> And you see the pace of of change and in our trajectory. So, um, yeah, it's really important to us that we're building a game that our audience is going to love. And what better way than to bring key people from our community into the development process to play the builds as we hit milestones, you are playing our milestones, you're seeing our progress, you're giving us feedback on the things you love, the things that you don't like, and then that is impacting our plans. Um, and so if you sort of think about this progression, there's a small group that's a part of the player council. it's been with us for a while. Uh giving feedback on the game. The alpha test now is an expanded group of people that are going to give us feedback. And then the beta test that are going to roll later in the year. Again, we're going to expand the size of the audience that's giving us feedback. And we're looking for different things from those groups as we go. Um and all of this is a way to get to launch with a game that we know our audience is going to love. >> Yeah. One of the cool things about that player console is we get to give feedback and and give our kind of take. And I know a lot of us, especially me as myself, I can't speak for the other creators, we kind of take their feedback and even if it's not something that I'm particularly caring about, I know that a lot of the community cares about it. So, that was one of the things that I think isn't, you know, wasn't necessarily stated right now, but it's one of the big things that I think a lot of us as creators uh who have been in this player console and the ones who are not who've been able to give you guys feedback that it's something that we want whether it's a feature or something maybe the way the game's playing out. So, I think that's been really cool that you've had us along the whole way. So in a way you guys do kind of have that representation which I think is pretty neat and something I'd say unique to the fact that you know not every you know studio does this. So I think that's been really cool. >> Yeah. I you know and as we thought about like who are the members of the player council they each bring uh perhaps a constituency that they represent uh just based on their kind of role within our community. Um so we were you know selective in who we brought in who we invited in. It's international. Uh, >> and it wasn't just creators. It was people from the community themselves, which is really cool, by the way. >> Yeah. And, uh, the members of the player council, if they want to reveal that they've been a part of it, they're free to do that. And, uh, but it's, you know, up to each of them on what they want to reveal. >> Xbox Studios has, you guys are collaborating with other Yeah. other studios. I know one of them is the Coalition and the other one is Obsidian with Grounded. Can you kind of tell us more about those partnerships and how have they helped you guys out? Yeah, we I mean one of the real benefits to being a part of Xbox is that we are joining this community of developers. Um and there's so much expertise across all of these studios that we're able to tap into. Um so yeah, I think the our working relationship with the coalition has been kind of well documented. Uh they provide a lot of technology that um we and other studios inside of Xbox are able to leverage. We authored a little piece of code that we gave to Obsidian uh that was the sort of basis of the shared world shared save inside of Grounded. they extended that functionality and we sort of get it back for stad 3. So like those are great opportunities for code sharing but there's also just a lot of expertise sharing. >> I'm curious when they were work when they were testing it out with uh with grounded was that kind of feedback you guys have been are planning to use with state of the K3 like kind of seeing how it functions with them and then >> taking that yeah I mean it's road tested it's live in a in the in a piece of software that players are using so yeah we can sort of see how players are responding to it. they've made some modifications to the code as well, extended it, uh, in ways that we we'll benefit from. So, I mean, it's just like that sort of back and forth is a perfect example of um, >> yeah, but I think the I mean, the expertise sharing is is a is a bigger part of that. Um, just being able to call anybody inside of, you know, Bethesda and Activision and and >> does that does that happen regularly? >> Uh, inside of the studio head community, I would say we talk to each other a lot. Um, and then the they're tech directors and and there's like these groups that meet and they they're sort of um grassroots networks that build across the studios and there's a lot of sharing that happens that way. It's pretty cool. >> All right, so my next question is uh I think the question I've been looking forward to asking the most. I think it's one that we can kind of put to bed. I guess that is the first trailer back in 2020. There was zombie deers, there was snow, there was camping. There was a lot of elements that I know I personally pulled from from that trailer to talk about, hey, we're going to see this in the next game and etc., etc. What can you tell us, I guess, about that trailer because we have heard reports that not everybody was on board with the trailer or there was just reports from you guys that, you know, it was something that was done a little bit beforehand. What can you tell us about >> that trailer and if anything from that trailer is coming to three? Uh, no zombie deer. >> No zombie deer. >> No zombie deer. No zombie deer. >> No zombie deer. Uh, so that that trailer uh in 2012 there really wasn't a game or a game team when we were working on that trailer. Like it was so early and you know I think we >> there wasn't even a team. >> I mean there was like four or five people. You know the the game was in a word document. >> You know it was uh not there was really like the very beginnings of software. So the trailer was done by Blur. It was all pre-rendered. It represented, I think, a a concept, you know, our our thoughts at the time of what might be cool to explore in State of Decay 3. Uh, and as we've had a chance to build the team and get going on the game, you know, some of those elements, I think, are going to persist in the game that we deliver. And some of those things, we're just like, yeah, we're not we're not doing zombie animals. >> Okay, well, you guys heard it. There's no zombie animals. I I got to say I'm a little bummed about that, but uh either way, I thought it was kind of an interesting concept, but it makes sense. You know, it was done before you guys even knew. So, good to know. >> Before we go a little further, if you guys can do me a huge favor, check if you're subscribed. It actually helps so much keeping the channel going. It keeps the lights going and it's completely free to hit that button. We've done a ton of work to get this video out for you guys. So, if you're enjoying it, please hit that button and thank you for joining me on this YouTube journey. What we saw with the last trailer with State of the K3 was things definitely looked a lot more evolved. Uh you you could tell there was, you know, more plague freaks were were definitely evolved. I guess what can you tell us about how this world that players are going to engage with in State of K3. How's that going to look? >> Yeah. Yeah. So, I think the story we like to talk about is State of K1 took place like weeks after the zombie outbreak. State of K2 took place a year or so later. sort of government had failed. You're really on your own. The sort of point to State of K2 was to find other communities of survivors that you could ally with. State of K3 is years farther into the future. Uh and so your group of survivors is a little more hardened. You know, they've had to live with in the zombie threat for years now. >> The world is sort of picked over. Uh so you're not really like looking for cans of food uh as much as you are kind of materials that you can bring back to your base and sort of build things with. So it's a it's and the zombie menace has evolved and it's sort of reemerged in a new threat as we begin the the sort of the game at stated K3 and you're having to face this now more dangerous zombie presence. So then what can you tell us about as far as the freaks? Everything and the zombies everything's we can see in the trailer they were evolved. So are they going to be more dangerous? And how dangerous are they going to be essentially? >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, the trailer sort of ended with the big boy, you know, the juggernaut. He is quite tall in the game. He's a men's. >> He looked he looked ridiculous. >> Yeah, he's he's a big boy. Uh my favorite I think is the bloater. I think the I mean in stated K2 really you just like suddenly drive through a bloater and you'd have to bail out of your car. It's kind of an annoyance. Um I think the bloater is going to be Oh, he's awesome. He's just so cool. I can't wait for people to see the blow. >> So one of the things that you kind of alluded to this earlier uh but one of the things we know is it's it's years down the road like you said. You've talked about it being a makeshift era culture of of what we're going to see in the future. What can you tell us more about that? Yeah. So, like I said, it's many years uh into the future. The world's been picked clean, so you're not going to necessarily find uh the same kinds of things that you would find in State of Decay, too. So, you're you're scavenging uh out in the world, more raw materials that you're going to bring back to your settlement, and then uh that's going to allow you to craft or build um things like weapons or improvised devices that you can then take back out into the world. Um so, there's a lot more of that. Like we talk internally a lot about maker culture. Yeah. And just sort of making use of what you find and then reassembling those into kind of new things that you're able to use in the game. >> So like things like uh like you have to make your molotovs and stuff. >> Yeah. Molotovs and like the improvised explosive devices and and in fact it's so cool because we have a concept artist here that builds all these things and they we like talk about how the circuitry works. like we really try to get the detail right and you know so he's doing research on like a teac kettle that how do you turn that into something as it whistles it attracts zombies and explodes and I I'm just fearful that the Department of Homeland Security is going to break out our door at some point because we're looking for like how to build >> learning how to build these things in the game and so that would mean then essentially crafting is going to play a really big role in the next game is that >> yeah like really like pulling these things together and then building uh inside your facility and so you level up your facility so it enables you to sort of get to the next level of what you can create. >> That's good because I know in State of Decay 2 we did find a lot of whole, >> you know, grenades and guns and ready to use things. So now to see that it's going to shift a bit and it's going to be a lot more crafting, I think will be >> I think it's going to be fun. I I personally think we'll be fun. I don't know how everybody else is going to feel, but I think it's going to be fun. So that's cool to see. >> And just trying to extend the fantasy of like how would you survive? Like it's a big part like that. you really care about, you know, enabling people to live out their fantasy of survival and what they would do in a zombie apocalypse. >> Okay, so one of the things I I noticed in the trailer, there were some cool little combat moves that happened. There were some cool little little things that we noticed. I know from my own experience playing it. What can you tell us about maybe how combat has evolved or anything that you can tell us at all about combat going forward with State of the K3? Yeah, it's such it's been such a huge focus for us um from the very beginning and really trying to elevate and evolve the combat experience in the game. It has been a big part of our focus and attention internally. The team that's working on it is doing phenomenal work. You know, it's what you do the most in the game is pilot your character around the world. So, a huge emphasis in locomotion, uh making the character feel much more responsive to the to your input, whether it's controller or mouse and keyboard. Uh and and then just the combat experience itself making that feel like again you it's it's accessible like new players can come pick it up but it's also got enough depth to it that you can play for hundreds or thousands of hours and not grow tired of the experience. >> Right. So, uh, as you know, a lot of us kind of, and you mentioned this earlier, a lot of us kind of play, at least I know I do, play a game like State of Decay because we kind of want to know or feel what we would do in those situations and how we would survive those situations. What would you say with State of the Decay 3 where we will have those types of experiences? What What can you say that about the game itself that'll maybe give us those kind of experiences? Yeah, I think um one of the things we I love in the game is our settlements. >> And we really want the settlements to have uh variety and have real character and feel distinctive and memorable. Uh and there's there's a number in the game today that are just so cool. Uh so like yeah, I would haul up in the top of the hill with a wind turbine and have some free power like that. Like that makes sense. settlement itself. So that's one way that we pay off that fantasy. >> And then uh ultimately we just try to create a number of systems that the players can then like enact their own survival fantasy. And so much of the play that we saw in State of K2 was player inspired goals. Like okay, so I've I've done a play through. Yeah. And now I want to do this with like I don't want to have I'm not going to take a settlement. Can I make it through the game without actually taking a settlement? Can I make it through the game with a single character? Like people create those their own kind of goals for themselves and we'd love to see that. So we want to enable players to to be self-directed that way um as much as they want to be. Yeah, that's one of the things that I I've always loved about the franchise is just being able to kind of have your own idea of what you want to accomplish and that's going to be different for every player. >> And I think that's one of the neat things about the franchise itself is just kind of being able to choose what you want to do if that's, you know, take on every plague heart there is or just focus on building and and trying to survive in that way and focusing on your community. So >> yeah, I will say for State of K3, you're going to not be able to ignore the plague threat. >> And so it is uh coming after you whether you are prepared or not. And so we really bring the the menace to you. Uh and there's a real balance that I think the players are going to have to strike between trying to build up and be powerful enough to right >> to meet the threat as it comes to you. Uh you know, like do you continue to build and build and build? when do you go, you know, sort of take this thing on because it's only going to get stronger and come after you as well. So, you can't just sit in your base and be like, I'm just going to manage my community and ignore the world out there. It's it's coming for you. >> What's funny about that is in my experience with three, that's exactly what basically happened. I was used to kind of being able to and I was playing in the highest difficulty. I was playing on lethal. I was able to kind of build up a little bit, but I realized I was the threat was coming and it was coming hard and fast and it was it was starting to surround me. So, I was getting really worried, so I had to drop everything I was doing and focus on that. So, you would say that's something that players are going to have to contend with uh with three. >> Yeah, for sure. >> Yeah. And I think it's part of the franchise like internally we talk a lot about like State of Decay is the thing that happens when you run out of gas as night is approaching and now you're on foot like okay like and and so we we because it's a systems game. This is not scripted and as you play the game you're going to encounter scenarios that hearken back to your favorite comic or your favorite TV series or your favorite zombie movie. And so, and we see this as fans tell us about their experiences. They describe them in ways that like that could be a movie like that what they just experienced like they have these moments in the game that become sort of zombie head cannon. It's so cool. Um, and I I think it's what's unique about our game. >> So, one thing I noticed about the trailer, I know I talked about it as well on my channel as far as uh the Xbox article, you kind of alluded how in the trailer there was those four players that were trying to survive. Obviously, one of them ended up dying and it felt like there was an emphasis as far as kind of that group setting and multiplayer. Basically, what can you tell us about multiplayer with State of K3? >> Yeah, I think we are delivering on the player expectation they have for I want to play this game, own a community, build out bases with my friends, and State of Decay 2 didn't really deliver on that experience. you know, you can join my world and ride along with me and help me do things, but you know, you didn't have ownership on the community that we were playing. It was my community, you were a guest in it. >> And for, you know, State of K3, I think that's one of the most important things that we really want to deliver is meeting player expectation around a fourplayer co-op shared world that we all get to play together. >> And is there anything you can elaborate about the shared world as far as I know grounded you, someone can come in offline, they can build on it. Is that something we can expect with three? Can people build on what they're doing with other players, maybe even the host not being online? >> Yeah, so one player will sort of start the world and invite their friends to join them >> and then as they join, they have full authorship over this community. So whether whoever like you can play synchronously or asynchronously, okay, in this shared world. So you'll have to make sure that you have good friends. >> Yeah. >> And they don't get your character killed. >> Ask question. Yeah. Is your favorite character going to die somehow if they take over? Is that a thing? It could be a thing. >> Yeah. Then, you know, have better friends. >> That's going to be there's going to be a lot of chaos in the community with that one. I have no doubt that people are going to come online and see all their characters dead or something. >> Yeah. So, you just need to be careful about who you invite into your shared community. >> As far as we know, State of K3 is going to have that shared world. Is there anything else you can tell us? Maybe that's different compared to State of K2. State of the K2, you're very tethered, you're very close, and like you said, it wasn't shared. It was more like you were in someone else. Is there anything else? >> Yeah, so Stad K2 was built on a peer-to-peer networking model. So the host player literally was hosting other players on their machine >> and Stad K3 is built on a on a serverbased model. So the game is hosted on a server. Uh so that allows us to do we just have a lot more capability and where players can be in the world. Um so they're not tethered as they were in State of Decay 2. >> I got to play and I we did some multiplayer. One cool thing he said there we weren't tethered and he's completely right. And we were able me and a group of two other guys. We were able to spread out and visit a town. We were able to hit different points. And that's one thing I absolutely loved. And we got to like we weren't having to be stuck together. We got to go and do our own thing and actually be a little bit more efficient. And I really feel like a lot of players fantasies are really going to play that up and be like, "Okay, we're all surviving. We all got a plan. You're going to do this. You're going to do that. Player A do this. B and C. You guys go do that." Is that what you guys were kind of going for? >> Yeah, we really wanted to deliver on that. I mean, again, that's a player expectation. We want to be able to deliver on that. Uh, and there are going to be things you're going to have to come together, like, you know, the sort of plague >> threat. We were never too far away from each other if something did go down. >> Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so I mean, we want to create an experience that's more fun to play together, but we also recognize that people are going to have their own objectives that they're trying to accomplish in a in a shared world together. Um, I think the thing that I'm a little hesitant to commit to today is like we've got to test this with players and load. Uh, so we understand like the sort of infrastructure cost of supporting this. Um, so yeah, but it is definitely going to be a more untethered experience than you saw in St. K2. 100%. >> I'm excited for that by the way. I'm excited for you guys to test that out. It's really cool. >> All right, so all this multiplayer talk and if I didn't ask this question, people would get very upset. Not everyone's into multiplayer. >> Oh, yeah. >> Not everyone's into multiplayer. So, what can you tell us about the solo experience for State of K3? >> Yeah, I'm glad you asked that because like that is something that like most players played State of the Decay 2 in the solo fashion. We know that there's a big part of our audience that's not interested in playing multiplayer. Uh we're hoping that the multiplayer experience that we deliver is more compelling and more people will play it obviously. uh but we don't want to lose sight of the fact that a lot of people just want to have a solo experience. So that is a key part of what we're focused on and and our expectation is a majority of our audience will actually play the game single player solo a solo experience um and we want to make sure that they have an amazing time in the game as a solo player. >> One thing from my experience I I noticed when I was playing solo was it was almost overwhelming but in a good way. We had a lot I had a lot of cool things to tackle. It was very It was a lot more efficient with multiplayer, but the single player aspect was a lot of fun because even though I was alone, it definitely made you want to rely on a lot of your your your basically your settlement and your community members that were with you. Was that something you guys intended? Was is there good is there like I guess the question I'm asking is do you guys feel like you have good balance with the multiplayer and the single portion of the game? Uh well so you're playing a game in development >> and so it's not a final balance right and yeah so the I think that's a key part of like the task for us is to make sure that we balance the difficulty so a single player is not overwhelmed by the world uh and that we scale the difficulty when you're playing with multiple people so that you don't just easily go through and uh accomplish the things that a single player might struggle with. So yeah, that's a key part of the balance pass and we do it as we develop. Like we want to make sure that we're having a balanced experience, but you know, those are the final knobs that we tune before we launch. >> Yeah, and I only asked the question because I know a lot of people are going to say, you know, are they focusing too much on one thing or another and are they leaving us out? So that's why I asked the question and at least from my experience, I can say you guys have done a good job so far. I know there's still more tuning, but you guys have done a good job. >> That's good to hear. I mean, that is our hope is that, you know, we recognize that we have a lot of different players with different preferences and we want to make sure that everybody feels like we're making a game for them. Yeah. And our solo players are super important. We're not leaving them behind. >> Yeah. Yeah. They're they're going to be happy to hear that. So, State of Decay 2 finished with a lot of really cool updates, a lot of cool things that were added to the game at the end that a lot of players, I think maybe from the beginning, didn't get to experience, but there was things, for example, like curveballs. Uh I just the infestation system all that stuff from State of Decay 2. What is there anything from State of Decay 2's like updates towards the end coming to three? >> Yeah. What you know I think so like when I got here in 2019 the only planned update that was remaining was Heartland. There was nothing following. There was no plan to support the title post Heartland. So that was June of 2019 I think. Right. Um, and but I looked at how we were performing and the audience that we had and I'm like, we're gonna, no, we need to support this game for years and there's a lot to go learn. There's, you know, the game to evolve. Uh, so we're very much taking that approach for State of K3. This is a game we intend to support for as long as we possibly can. And, you know, you like the launch is the beginning really of your experience with your audience. and and then you adjust and adapt and and extend and enhance the game from there. So, State of Decay 2, we learned a lot. The closet, for example, was one of the early updates we did and it was like 30% of our daily audience interacted with changing their characters outfits, >> by the way. That's cool. I didn't know about that. That's that's fascinating. >> Massively popular feature. So, yeah, we want that and of course that'll be there. Um I think that uh the other two updates that were really really instructive for us, one was plague territories which you were talking about and the other was the heart attack update. Uh both of those like really changed the dynamic of how the zombies sort of worked, how um you know infestations worked, how sieges happened, the connection that they had to each other, how you'd wake up a plague heart um you know that sort of mechanic. And so that is a jumping off point for State of Dec 3 and our plague system. So I think that really informed our thinking about what's going to come in State of K3. Well, what's what's interesting about that in State of the Decay 2 before I got I started covering you guys and having my channel, the threat wasn't as like hardcore as it got towards the end of two where you really felt like, okay, this is a hive mind that's now like there it's thinking, it's planning, and it's coming after your your group. And that was something that was unique and really evolved with State of K2. And I liked it. We've alluded to it earlier in State of the Day K3. You you mentioned it. You you can't sit back at your base and just kind of build everything up. So, was that what is that one of your plans going with State of K3? Were you guys really wanting to kind of emphasize, hey, this plague threat is is serious? >> Yeah. And it's and it's changed. And so, this sort of intervening time between State K2 and State of K3 in the in the game world, the years, there was sort of a stasis where the survivor sort of figured out how to live in the world of zombies. Um, and at the beginning of State of Dec, this new threat has changed and evolved and suddenly you're like, "This is why it was sort of curtains up and it's time to play State of K3." Um, yeah. So, very much has that plague threat. Um, I think if you go back and look at the showcase trailer of 24 and how we end on the scene on the bridge and the gunk and the plague that's all over the Yeah. So, you're going to see stuff like that in State of K3. So with that, what uh what kind of postlaunch support can we expect with say a K3? What what are we going to see? >> I mean, you're going to see a team that launches the game and then is I mean, I imagine there's going to be some hot fixes. >> Yeah. >> Um we are >> Are we going to see any famous bugs of like cars flying up in the air? >> Oh my gosh, I hope not. Um you know, I think St. There was like so I mean I played Stad K2 in 2019 as I was interviewing. I I hadn't played the game prior to the sort of interview process. So the first thing I did was sit down with the game and you know so it was early and it was not long after launch and and I think the sort of descriptor in the audience is lovable jank. >> Uh and and you know the game had that but it also had this like core to the game that made me want to root for it. Like there was just like it was really delivering I think on the core fantasy of can you survive in the zombie apocalypse? And so, you know, I love that about the game and and I saw opportunity for us to improve the experience and get away from, you know, jank, you know, so we certainly hope we're gonna launch a super clean, really high quality experience. Uh, I mean, obviously, I can't guarantee that there aren't going to be bugs at launch if we wish to do. Um, but we're going to be prepared to address those things. I would also say as we think about, you know, a live and evolving game is that, you know, part of what we uh are planning for is planned updates. like we have a list of things that we want to go deliver post launch um and that we're super excited about and we think the audience is going to really respond to. >> Will you be able to share that later down the line? >> Yeah, I mean I would love to be in a place where we have kind of a live road map of planned updates that are coming. You know, I don't want to commit to a specific date partly because we also have to respond to the game the players are playing and you know something breaks or there's like something that we built that people just don't like or it's not working the way that we intended, we need to address that. So part of our planning for live support is be responsive to the game in the in the in the field and then also deliver the things that we want to go deliver. I'm so exc I mean we have been working hard for years and you know we're at a place where the game is really coming together as you can see and we're excited to be able to be back in front of the community and talking about the game again. Uh so you know we this is this is a big moment for us as well. So with that, what what do you think is maybe the the biggest feature that a lot of people might be very excited for with State of Decay 3? What might maybe in your your eyes, what's the biggest the biggest thing that people are going to find fun? >> Well, I think you know the core of the game, the thing that people love about State of Decay is going to be there and and so that I mean it's I mean there's a variety of features that make that experience. And I mean, I think that's what's so cool about State of Decay as a franchise is it doesn't rely on just one thing. >> You know, it's Peradeth is a staple of the franchise and it makes the decisions that you make matter. Like there is a consequence to losing a character. They're gone for good. That is an emotional experience that you have when you lose a community member, especially one that's one of your favorites that you've been playing with for a long time. Like there is an emotional loss that you go through. And what's really interesting and we see in our data is like players that really know the game and are playing the game when they lose a character it actually increases their engagement >> really >> it's counterintuitive I think a little bit so but that's because it's not just peradeth it's like all of the systems that support scavenging and building and you know you start to have an attachment I think the other thing that we've learned we ran this we ran this um like a user group years ago sort of a a research project and all these players came to the experience and they played differently. So some were like wild risktakers and they would just go out and like let's go take down a hard or let's go find a fight and others were hoarders and they would like I want to scavenge and build up my stock piles. So they had very different play motivations but when they described >> like what they loved about the game, they all talked about their role as a caretaker of these survivors. And so I I love that like so maybe this is a long way to get to the the answer you're looking for is I hope players of State of the K3 have that same experience where I have responsibility to safeguard these group of humans that are in this terrible situation in this world and you know it's my duty to keep them alive. Uh, so what would you say then maybe maybe build off of that, but what would you say could be a surprise that players are just going to be a little bit like, "Oh, that's neat." >> Well, I mean, I think, you know, when you boot the game up, you're going to be like, "This game looks incredible." >> It's funny. I was going to say the exact same thing. The first thing you're going to notice is just the quality. It looks good. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. It looks great. I think the sort of feel of play people are going to respond to really well. I think the choices they get to make, that's the other thing is like you can't have all the things in a PlayStation. You have to make choices and like which settlement do I take? Which enclave do I ally with? Every playthrough is going to be different because of that because you can't have all of them in a playthrough. You can you're going to have to make choices and one choice that you make eliminates other options for you. So, you know, it is like we talk about one of our core pillars is this idea of consequence. Um, and perade death is a part of that. And again, the choices that you make about where to invest your resources and what part of your base that you're going to upgrade. And so, one of the other play patterns that we see in State of the K2 is people have a playthrough experience and they start over and they build a new community. And so, it's almost like a they have a run and and then they go back and repeat it and they make some changes and Yeah. >> So, we hope I hope I hope we see people do that again in State of the K3. Is there going to be some balance as far as because you you mentioned and I felt it when you're playing like this Blake threat series like it's it's it's really trying to get you. Is is there going to be maybe difficulties maybe like different difficulties or a balance to players who maybe want to chill a little bit more versus the players who are like, "All right, this threat's coming. I'm ready to take it. I don't mind that it's coming at this moment." Because I definitely felt that. So, is that something you guys are are looking to balance? 100%. So, you know, the sort of difficulty sliders that we had in state of K2, I think that was an early update uh in the live experience. Um, yeah, 100% that'll be in State of K3. So, we'll allow people I don't know if it'll be the exact implementation that you saw in Stadia K2, but this concept of I want a easier combat experience or a harder one or I want my resourcing, the scavenging, the loot that I'm able to find in the world to be easier or harder or the sort of management simulation part of it. Each of those will be independently tunable by the audience 100%. Uh, I would say maybe a big difference in State of K 2 and three is in State of K2, we sort of cast a radius around the player and we spawn zombies. And so you're always and forever facing zombies no matter where you are in the world. In State of K3, we're hoping to have a little bit more variability in the zombie presence that's around the player. Okay. >> Um, and so as you go to places, human settlements, uh, old old towns and things like that, there's going to be a greater concentration of zombies there versus like out in the woods. Um, and yeah, so, so I think that'll give the player a little bit of choice around, well, I'm looking for more of an exploration experience and so I'm going to go out in the woods and see what I can find versus like I got to gear up because I'm going and I expect a fight and so I need to be prepared for it. >> Cool. Cuz I know there's a lot of players who do like to take that approach in single player. They just want to chill, relax, and I was just kind of curious if that was a play style that would be supported. So, I mean, we're not it's not like a um you know, the survival games where you just like build a base and sit inside and the cozy it's not a cozy survival game. Like, there is a threat coming for you. You need to like like the game doesn't wait for the player. >> So, when players finish uh maybe a long session of State of Decay 3, what is maybe the biggest takeaway you and the team hope for as far as what they're going to feel after after playing State of Decay 3? >> Well, I mean, I hope they had a great time. Yeah. had fun playing. Uh, want to come back and play some more? Obviously, like that's what we look for. Like I was telling you, like I I love reading wherever it's Discord or Reddit, like fans talking about the experience they had and describing what happened like, "Oh, I was heading back and I I had like it was really like low on health and but I got a bunch of stuff in the back of the car and I can't wait to get to the base and I run out of gas or I run into a jug on the road and now I've got to, you know, just all of these little stories that happen through somebody's unique experience and how they share those with each Um, I mean to me that like when people talk about the game, like that's marketing for us, you know, and the more that we can create these experiences that players want to go tell their friends about because, oh, I had this amazing experience, you got like, let me tell you, whether they're like encouraging somebody to play or not, like that's how the word gets out that this is a game that other people should take a look at. I I don't know if I don't know if I'll get in trouble for sharing this, but one thing for me that I took away from playing a long session was not only how we talked about it earlier, the plague has evolved, but how everything in the game itself has, in my opinion, leveled up quite a bit. Just everything, we talked about it earlier, the visuals, uh, the plague is now evolved. And I know we can't talk about other specifics, but just in general, I really felt everything more post-apocalyptic, more real, and and just more intense. And I don't know if that's what you guys were going for, but that's kind of what I felt. >> Yeah. I think, you know, when you have a long session, it'd be great if a player was like, "Man, I I can't believe I got through that experience. Like, I survived by the skin of my teeth." you know, like I think that's a little bit of what we were going for. Like early on in sort of pre-production and design, we were talking about we talk a lot about tone, the tone of the game, and we have a target that we're shooting for that we t we describe as serious but hopeful. And I think there were parts of State of Decay 2 that were maybe a little frivolous or silly, you know, like, oh, find records for me to, you know, so like I wouldn't actually do that if I was really being hunted down by zombies every day. >> Yeah. >> Um, so I think in St. K3, we're trying to deliver a world that feels uh, you know, more coherent, a little bit more elevated, a little bit more serious, the threat is more real, but also maintaining that kind of element of hope that I think is really important to the franchise that I can live through the night. I can see another day. I have a community that's relying on me. It's I have a responsibility and a duty to keep them alive. All of those are elements of hope and and I think as you think about the world that we live in uh the real world and sometimes it feels like it's just a mess. Uh you know we have a point of view as a group of creators that no you like you endure you get through you do your part to make the place a little better. There's a group of people that are dependent on you. They support you when you're in trouble you know and and those are all causes to have some hope about the future. So you you mentioned the tone is going to be darker. Does it is this >> more serious? >> More serious. >> Not necessarily. >> Okay. So the tone is going to be more serious. One thing with State of Decay 2 is that it was very at times it was a little goofy. >> Yeah. >> So is any of that going to play into three or is it just you know more serious, hopeful but serious? I think you know there it's important to have moments of levity and I think humor has a role to play in a game that can be serious too. Um, what what I think we're trying to move away from maybe is okay >> the campiness of State of the K2 and and when I talk about camp, what what I I think there's like a >> there's almost like an eyewink that the audience has, the player that that we as creators have to the audience. Yeah. Of like, well, this is a little goofy. Like, we know we know this is a little goofy perhaps. Um, cannibals parts. >> Yeah. So, I think we're trying to remove a little bit of that so that the experience just feels a little bit more elevated. >> All right, guys. So, we have a big announcement that I've been excited for. Waited to the end of the video. This is a big one. There is an alpha test. With that, Philip, what can you tell us about the alpha test upcoming for State of K3? >> Yeah, we're super excited to be announcing an alpha test. Signups are on stated decay.com. Uh we encourage people that want to be a part of our alpha to hit the link. There's a survey to fill out. We're gonna select people to join our alpha. It's a relatively small size. Um, but we're super interested in getting feedback on combat, on locomotion, on the feel of the controls, uh, on the multiplayer experience that players are going to have. Uh, and this is just the beginning of more testing to come. So, throughout the rest of the year, if you don't get into the alpha, there's going to be an opportunity to be a part of our betas. And those betas are going to expand as we get closer and closer to launch. So, as I always say in my videos, uh, one of the things is, uh, comments. You guys giving your feedback, you guys, you know, not just in my comments, but going on the website, engaging with the wish list, engage actually with Undead Lab social media as well. They're very receptive. So, if there's anything in the comments that you guys want to talk about that you guys, whatever that is, whatever you guys whatever feedback you want to give, feel free to do that. And Philip, I know you you guys have been always really receptive to everything that you that you've seen out there. So >> yeah, I mean we watch your channel. We're fans of your channel and you know I mean I don't read the comments. I mean I read a few but like >> I know Jeffrey does. >> People do definitely read the comments. Uh you know we're on I mean Branson Reddit all the time and thank god he's sort of keeping the ember engage on Reddit. >> Yeah. Um you know Discord. So those are all great places. um you know we're there's a limited number of us obviously so we can't respond to everything that we see but we do read it and um like I sent you your email was there and I just was like hey I like your content um and I think you were like not quite sure if I was realm and so and then you replied and we started you know just over kind of email and we had a few phone calls and of course as a part of the player council you've been here so >> and what's funny about that I said wait Philip who's Philip I don't know who that is exactly and so that's why for sure today I wanted you to kind say, "Hey, this is who I am, and you're you're the guy who kind of drives a lot, and I know a lot of the team always talks great about you." So, it's cool that, you know, we get to get to know you a little bit better as well. >> Yeah. I mean, I I I'm not like a often in front of the community or in front of cameras. Um, >> you know, and like my job is to lead the studio and and and really steward the franchise. is I mean I think that's actually a big change uh maybe that we haven't talked about is um as an independent company we had a publishing relationship with Microsoft and now as a first part of first party as part of Xbox game studios we are the publisher and so the franchise is managed here uh inside of Undead Labs so I am the steward of the franchise uh along with you know Brandt and Kevin and Patrick and others here like we are fully accountable to the audience and to this game. Um, and so, you know, we exercise creative control and plan the future of State of Decay as a franchise. >> And with that, is there anything you want to share that wasn't talked about today? Anything that you want to lay out there for for the fans to know about State of Decay 3? >> I'm just how thankful we are to our community? Like, we would literally not be here without the community. And it goes all the way back to State of Decay 1. And when we launched, the community was there. I think the sort of lore in the studio is that uh we blew through our full year forecast in the first 24 hours of State of Decay's launch, State of Decay 1. Um and the community's been with us every step of the way. Like we have so much respect and appreciation for the community that's allowed us to be at this place today. And so we're so excited to be back in front of the community talking about the game that we're making, starting to bring people in to be a part of our alpha test and then the future beta tests that are going to follow later in the year. Um, it's just we're just nothing but gratitude for the community >> and I'm I'm really excited for you guys because the game is really shaping up really well and it's imperative you guys get in there, sign up, get in there and play and any feedback you guys give them makes the game better when it comes to launch. So, I really feel like this is something you guys want to get into if you can get into it. And I'm excited for the game. There's there's a lot of good stuff that I think people are going to be excited about and some cool features and things that they'll get to see. Multiplayer, I think, is going to be fun. And it's interesting you're saying multiplayer is also going to be part of alpha. I think, you know, I've I've worked on a lot of games in my career. And uh this is the most fun, the best looking, the most performant game that with this much time still to launch that I've ever been a part of. So, I'm very very excited for people to have an experience with it. >> If I didn't ask this question, everyone over there is going to be really mad at me. So, I have to ask, even though I do know the answer with that, can you give us any information on a release date or release window for State of K3? >> Nope. There you have it. Nope. If I didn't ask, they would they would get mad at me. >> Yeah. And I, you know, we just are not ready to talk about our launch date and in part because we just want to make sure that we can deliver the best possible game we can for a launch. uh you know obviously we have a target internally that we're striving for uh and we feel really good about it and we're in this you know the steps that you would take alpha testing and beta testing on the run to launch. So uh you know we're not far and there will come a point where we make our announcement on our launch date. Um but today is not the day. >> Once again thank you Philip for for having me. It's been a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to you guys uh testing the game out. It is uh it's it's a lot of it's there's a lot going on. I think you guys are really going to enjoy it. Make sure you get in there. I'm really excited that you guys uh are going to get to play what these guys have been putting out and it's it's looking really good. So, make sure you guys uh check it out and uh thank you again, Philip. >> Oh, my pleasure. And I, you know, I am in the fortunate position where I get to represent the work of an entire studio and and and our extended group of partners that are supporting us and uh they are all incredibly passionate and working super hard. Uh so I get the easy job of being able to represent the work of uh quite a quite a few people. So yeah, we're super happy to have you and excited for people to get into the alpha. >> And with that, make sure you guys check out that link down below and sign up for the state of the K3 alpha. You don't want to miss that.