 Logo since 2024 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | November 23, 2009; 16 years ago (2009-11-23) |
| Founder | Jeff Strain |
| Headquarters | , US |
Number of locations | 3 (2024) |
Key people | Philip Holt(studio head) |
| Products | State of Decay series |
Number of employees | ~60[1] (2018) |
| Parent | Xbox Game Studios (2018–present) |
| Website | undeadlabs.com |
Undead Labs LLC is an Americanvideo game developer based inSeattle,Washington. The company was founded in November 2009 byJeff Strain and developed theState of Decay series. In 2018, Undead Labs became part ofMicrosoft Studios (now known as Xbox Game Studios).
Undead Labs was founded on November 23, 2009, byJeff Strain, with the sole focus on zombie-based games.[2] On February 3, 2011, Undead Labs announced that they were partnering withMicrosoft Game Studios to publish their games on theXbox 360 and now also theXbox 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 gameState of Decay was released on the Xbox 360 on June 5, 2013, and onMicrosoft 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]
Moonrise was shut down at the end of 2015.[10]
AtE3 2018, Microsoft announced they had entered into an agreement to acquire Undead Labs intoMicrosoft Studios.[11] In 2020, the studio announced their next titleState of Decay 3 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.[12] In July 2021 Undead Labs opened a second studio in Orlando, Florida focused on developing animation technology inUnreal Engine 5 for Undead Labs as well as for other studios under the Xbox Game Studios banner.[13] Strain left the company by October 2021 and founded another studio, Possibility Space.[14]
A 2022 investigation byKotaku reported on a sexist studio culture, which was abetted by Philip Holt, the new studio head who replaced Strain, and then-head of HR Anne Schlosser.[15] Schlosser was removed after a Microsoft HR investigation. Thetoxic work environment, which continued after Schlosser's departure, led to a high employeeturnover rate, especially among experienced staff. These issues, combined with a lack of design vision, contributed to extensive delays in the development ofState of Decay 3.[15] Employees also blamed Microsoft for not living up to its goals ofdiversity, equity, and inclusion by not responding to reports of abuse in a timely manner.[15]
On June 9, 2024, Undead Labs was rebranded with a new logo and website following the Xbox Showcase, where the company showed its first gameplay trailer forState of Decay 3.[16]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | State of Decay | Windows,Xbox 360,Xbox One |
| 2018 | State of Decay 2 | Windows,Xbox One |
| TBA | State of Decay 3 | Windows,Xbox Series X |
| Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|
| Moonrise (video game) | Android,iOS,Windows,MacOS |