State of Decay 3 is getting an alpha test in May

After a long stretch of near silence, Undead Labs has finally shared a concrete next step for State of Decay 3. The zombie survival game is set to hold an alpha test sometime in May, giving players their first chance to get into the sequel years after its 2020 reveal.

Details on the test are still pretty thin, but players can already put their names in through the official sign-up page. Series co-creator Brant Fitzgerald said the alpha will include four-player co-op, updated base-building, and plenty of combat.

More details also came out through a recent interview with studio head Philip Holt. According to coverage from Windows Central, Undead Labs is aiming for a bigger focus on combat this time around, along with easier drop-in multiplayer. Holt also said players should be able to manage communities even when the host is offline, and that online play is shifting to server-based networking instead of peer-to-peer.

That last bit could be one of the bigger changes if it holds up in the final game. The previous State of Decay games leaned hard on co-op survival and community management, but networking and host limitations were common sticking points. A server-based setup could smooth some of that out, though Undead Labs hasn’t said much yet about exactly how it will work in practice.

Holt also said the studio wants State of Decay 3 to launch in a more polished state and support it for the long haul, similar to how State of Decay 2 kept getting updates after release.

There’s still no release date, and a lot of the game remains under wraps. But after years of waiting, an alpha in May is at least a real sign that State of Decay 3 is moving again.