"There really wasn't a game or a game team when we were working on that trailer, it was so early. The game was in a Word document."
That's Phillip Holt, studio head at Undead Labs, speaking in a recent interview about the 2020 reveal trailer for State of Decay 3. Six years after that CG clip dropped at Xbox's showcase, fans finally have confirmation of what many suspected: the trailer was a concept pitch, not a preview of an actual game in production.
What the 2020 trailer actually was
The reveal trailer, produced by animation studio Blur, was fully pre-rendered. No engine footage. No actual gameplay. Holt confirmed the team at the time consisted of just four or five people, and the "game" was nothing more than a written concept. The trailer represented ideas the team found interesting to explore, not a design document or vertical slice of something already being built.
Here's the thing: this is more common than publishers like to admit. CG announcement trailers are frequently used to lock in a creative direction and generate audience interest before full production begins. What makes this case notable is the sheer gap between perception and reality. That deer decomposing in the snow felt like a tone-setter for the whole project. Turns out it was closer to a mood board.
The zombie deer are not coming
One of the most memorable images from that 2020 trailer was a zombie deer, which sparked immediate speculation about infected animals as a gameplay mechanic. Holt addressed that directly: "No zombie deer."
Some of the concepts from the 2020 trailer will carry through to the final game, he noted, but the zombie wildlife idea has been dropped entirely. The team has had years to build out the actual design, and that particular direction didn't survive contact with real production.
Undead Labs recently opened alpha playtest sign-ups for State of Decay 3, marking the first time the studio has actively engaged the public about the game since its initial reveal.
From Word document to alpha playtest
The timing of Holt's admission is worth paying attention to. This interview came out alongside the announcement that alpha playtest sign-ups are now open, which signals the game has reached a stage where Undead Labs is confident enough to put it in front of real players. That's a significant shift from years of near-total silence on the project.
A development update from earlier this year noted that the head of Xbox Game Studios had visited Undead Labs repeatedly over a six-to-eight month period, suggesting the project had real momentum internally before any of this became public. The alpha playtest is the first concrete step toward players actually getting their hands on it.
Alpha sign-ups now open
What comes next for the game
No release date has been confirmed. What most players miss in situations like this is that an alpha playtest, particularly one that requires sign-ups rather than being open to everyone, is still a very early public-facing milestone. It does not mean the game is close to launch.
Xbox's Summer Game Fest showcase later this year is a reasonable window to expect more, possibly including actual gameplay footage. After six years of a CG trailer and near silence, even a short gameplay clip would represent a major step forward for a fanbase that has been waiting patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for any sign of life from this project.
The alpha test results and any subsequent announcements will be worth watching closely as State of Decay 3 finally moves from concept to something you can actually play. Make sure to check out more:
