Undead Labs

Undead Labs LLC is an American video game developer based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in November 2009 by Jeff Strain and developed the State of Decay series. In 2018, Undead Labs became part of Microsoft Studios (now known as Xbox Game Studios).

Undead Labs LLC
Subsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedNovember 23, 2009 (2009-11-23)
FounderJeff Strain
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
U.S.
Key people
Ted Woolsey (general manager)
ProductsState of Decay
Number of employees
~60[1] (2018)
ParentXbox Game Studios (2018–present)
Websiteundeadlabs.com

History

Undead Labs was founded on November 23, 2009, by Jeff Strain, with the sole focus on zombie-based games.[2] On February 3, 2011 Undead Labs announced that they were partnering with Microsoft Game Studios to publish their games on the Xbox 360 and now also the Xbox One.[3] This decision was made after most of the other publishers who showed interest in their games were requesting what they described as "World of Warcraft clones".[4] The first game State of Decay was released on the Xbox 360 on June 5, 2013 and on Microsoft Windows on November 5, 2013.[5][6][7]

On January 11, 2014 it was announced that Undead Labs has signed a multi-year, multi-title agreement with Microsoft Studios.[8] Jeff Strain stated that the first State of Decay was "just the start of (Undead Labs') long-term ambitions", and spoke of many future titles potentially entering the franchise.[9]

At E3 2018, Microsoft announced they had entered into an agreement to acquire Undead Labs into Microsoft Studios.

Games
Main articles: State of Decay (video game) and State of Decay 2

State of Decay (formerly Class3) is an open world zombie survival horror game, but unlike games such as Left 4 Dead and Dead Island, State of Decay focuses more on survival, stealth, evasion, distraction, securing resources, and moving through the world rather than actual zombie combat. On April 12, 2013 the game was officially announced to release in June 2013 on Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Windows at a future date.[10] State of Decay was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on June 5, 2013.

On August 5, 2014, Undead Labs announced a free-to-play role-playing title for iOS and Android known as Moonrise.[11] After limited releases for iOS in Canada,[12] Denmark and Sweden[13] on December 3, a beta was launched on Steam in early March[14] followed by Early Access on May 27.[15] It was later canceled before release.[16] Android and iOS were the original planned platforms for the worldwide release, but the Android version was never released as the game was still in beta when it closed.[17]

During PAX Prime 2014, Undead Labs and Microsoft announced a next-gen version of State of Decay, titled State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition.

During E3 2016, Undead Labs and Microsoft announced State of Decay 2 which was released on May 22, 2018. It can be an Xbox Play Anywhere Title; one purchase will grant access to the Windows 10 and Xbox One version of the game.[18]

References
  1. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/birth-of-a-video-game-how-a-small-seattle-shop-creates-a-sequel-to-a-smash-hit-with-some-help-from-giant-microsoft/
  2. https://undeadlabs.com/2009/11/press/studio-announcement-us/
  3. "Undead Labs and Microsoft game studios to create zombie..." Undead Labs. February 3, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  4. "Rude QA 2". Undead Labs. February 3, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  5. Rosenburg, Adam (February 2, 2011). "'Class3' Coming To Xbox Live Arcade". MTV Multiplayer. Archived from the original on January 1, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  6. McElroy, Griffon (February 3, 2011). "Jeff Strain Shares His Vision for Class3, a Different Kind of Zombie Game". Joystiq. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  7. Weathers, Sanya (August 31, 2012). "Faq". Undead Labs. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  8. Matulef, Jeffrey (January 11, 2014). "State of Decay dev signs multi-year agreement with Microsoft". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  9. Sarkar, Samit (April 20, 2014). "State of Decay's Lifeline DLC is just the start of Undead Labs' 'long-term ambitions'". Polygon. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  10. "SOD release announced to be June 2013".
  11. "State of Decay studio debuts mobile RPG Moonrise". Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
  12. "Limited Release - Canada!". forums.undeadlabs.com. December 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  13. "Limited Release - Denmark and Sweden!". forums.undeadlabs.com. December 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  14. "Moonrise...Coming to Steam". forums.undeadlabs.com. March 4, 2015. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  15. "Now Available on Steam Early Access - Moonrise". Valve. May 27, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  16. "Developer Bio: Geoffrey Card". Archived from the original on October 17, 2015.
  17. Jeff Strain (August 28, 2015). "The Sun Sets on Moonrise". Undead Labs. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  18. http://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/xbox-play-anywhere
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