Unveiling the Future: State of Decay 3 Takes Center Stage at Xbox Showcase

There is always a moment in gaming, as vast and ever-changing as it is, where the horizon stretches and expands into a spectrum of unimagined colours – and that moment will apparently arrive on Thursday morning’s Xbox Game Showcase in a new leak. State of Decay 3 is perhaps the most talked about inclusion, and the most likely to actually be real, as its inclusion would really open up the survival horror action somewhat. More tantalising is the inclusion of ‘several of the PS5’s most anticipated titles’ that ‘are said to blur the lines between games even more than anything that came before’.

A Leak Unraveled: State of Decay 3 Emerges from the Shadows

There was a rumble. Then a whisper. Then a link, posted quietly, and pulled down even more quietly, on the jobs page of Undead Labs. The leak, caught by the gaming community and by @gematsu on X/Twitter, had spilt the beans. The link led to a cornucopia of press, talking about how Undead Labs had announced State of Decay 3 at the much-awaited Xbox Showcase. Then there was another leak: one branch of the flash fire went to a new logo, showing a new beginning, a rebranding.

Tomorrow's Showcase: A New Dawn Awaits

But the Xbox Game Showcase 2024 is arguably pointing us towards the future. Probably the biggest reveal is sure to be the trailer for State of Decay 3: the sequel to the zombie colony builder/action game is coming, and we don’t know much about it, yet. First announced in August 2020, the game has been in development for what feels like an eternity, with the announcement trailer implying that its world would be bigger, more engaging, open and generally more ambitious than the closed-degree of freedom that the first and the second game had. At the showcase, we’ll finally know more. We’ll also get the usual slate of new games. Undead Labs is not the only company working on games for Microsoft’s Xbox system, and there are other possibilities for the new shows. For instance, according to reliable rumours, the company will reveal new adventures for PS5, such as a new Doom (number 5, I think?) and a Gears of War 6, mixing legacy with future in some very interesting ways.

The PS5 Connection: Beyond State of Decay 3

As the camera quickly pans over to State of Decay 3, the background murmurs distilling into hushed whispers: and Empire; and… doom: The Dark Ages; as well as Gears of War 6. It’s not that the PS5 won’t play games. It is that the PS5 will be a game-building machine. That is the promise, is it not? Not just a show-and-tell, but a promise of a gaming experience unmatched by any other. An experience where every single game opens up an experience equal, ideas-wise, to every other game.

The Waiting Game: What Lies Beyond the Trailer

And as the world waits with bated breath for the reveal of tomorrow’s trailer, we are still in the dark as to whether State of Decay 3 will be more than simply a sequel to a well-received, if niche, Zombie Apocalypse game. It might also be a showcase of Undead Labs’ storytelling prowess, another step on the road to new territory. But we still don’t know what the game actually is, when it is coming, or how the PS5’s specifications will be deployed. That will have to wait at least until tomorrow.

The Xbox and PS5 Synergy: Blurring Lines

A marketplace based on common cause instead of brinkmanship and platform wars: tomorrow’s show promises to be a very different kind of event. The announcement of State of Decay 3 by Xbox – and the announcements coming down the pipe for the PS5 – represents a gaming ecosystem predicated on win-win synergies, on storytelling as a common language. Otherwise, this isn’t about new games – it’s about audience, a passions-based market that transcends brand.

Understanding PS5's Impact on Gaming

The PS5 isn’t just a console – it’s a cuisinart, a tool that has shaped and roasted games into something new. Its SSD allows for near-instantaneous loads; its ray tracing allows for realistic depictions of light; and its 3D audio system syncs that realism across a playing field. It’s a device that worlds are felt as much as they’re seen. Where each moment is less played than lived. Through titles such as State of Decay 3, when we accept this new game, we enter an era in which the PS5 moulds that game’s story on to itself, and renders it back to us in fidelity.

Navigating Tomorrow's Xbox Showcase: A PS5 Perspective

The clocks are counting down to the next Xbox Game Showcase tomorrow, and for PS5 fans, it’s not so much about getting to see State of Decay 3 as it is seeing into the future, into the PS5 era, with its storied potential for rich narrative and innovative gameplay. We aren’t following this news because it’s new, we’re charting a future where every game, every experience, is an expression of the possibility of the PS5.

Tomorrow will tell? But on the eve of the announcement of the PS5’s games, I am already finding myself plunged into new worlds, in new landscapes, in State of Decay 3 and beyond. This is a glimpse into the future of games. And it’s a heart-racing ride.