Microsoft raises profile of State of Decay series, sequel to appear at E3 2017

By Brad Jones February 17, 2017

state of decay 2 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Undead Labs has announced that State of Decay 2 will be a part of Microsoft’s E3 briefing, which is set to be held at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on June 11. The game is a sequel to the studio’s overlooked zombie-slaying adventure from 2013, and looks set to build on its predecessor’s sense of freedom and its many intertwined gameplay mechanics.

State of Decay 2 was officially announced at E3 2016, but beyond a few brief clips of gameplay footage, we didn’t learn a great deal about how the game will differentiate itself from its predecessor. Since then, Undead Labs has been releasing a steady stream of concept art via its official website.

However, there was confirmation that the sequel will introduce drop-in co-operative multiplayer for up to four players. Given that the tagline for its reveal trailer was “nobody survives alone,” it seems fair to assume that online multiplayer will be a big focus for State of Decay 2.

State of Decay was something of a sleeper hit when it launched on the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade service four years ago. Its success was enough to prompt a remaster, which was released in 2015, and its sequel’s unveiling at E3 2016 seems to suggest that it has now become one of Microsoft’s premier video game franchises.

State of Decay 2 is confirmed for Microsoft’s E3 briefing, as per a tweet from the game’s official Twitter account, and we already know that the Xbox conference is going to focus on Project Scorpio. As such, it seems reasonable to expect that State of Decay 2 will be available for both the standard Xbox One and its upcoming hardware revision.

We’ll know more once E3 gets underway in June. The event is still a few months away, but it’s clear that Microsoft is eager to start the hype train early — which isn’t surprising, given that the company plans to show off brand new hardware.

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Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…

Gaming

Nintendo confirms that it won’t be part of E3 2023

Pikmin and Bulborb in Pikmin 4.

Nintendo has confirmed reports that it won't be participating in E3 2023, meaning the gaming trade show will be missing one of its key vendors when it returns in-person this June.
"We approach our involvement in any event on a case-by-case basis and are always considering various ways to engage with our fans," a Nintendo spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. "Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have made the decision to not participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA [Entertainment Software Association] and E3."
After taking 2020 and 2022 off and being digital-only in 2021, this year was supposed to mark the grand return of E3, which was once a dominant game industry trade show that attracted every big video game company. Although Sony hasn't participated since 2019, it still came as a shock in January when IGN reported that both Nintendo and Microsoft would not be attending E3 this year as well. It appears that the report is true, as Microsoft has not confirmed any E3-related events outside of its independently run Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.
Nintendo skipping E3 2023 not only takes away a vendor that dominated the show floor in previous years, but also raises questions about whether or not the company will hold an exciting Nintendo Direct around then. While Nintendo typically holds a big showcase with lots of first-party game announcements around June every year, in 2022 it only held a third-party driven Partner Showcase in June. Now that we know it won't be at E3 2023, we're left to wonder when exactly then next big Nintendo Direct will be.
E3 2023 will take place between June 13 and June 16, but don't expect Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft to have a big presence there.

Gaming

Here’s what E3 2023 could look like without Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft

Playstation character wall at E3 2018

Let's start with the good news: E3 2023 will be held in its in-person format once again after three long years of digital events necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this time with ReedPop at the helm. The bad news is that Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo -- gaming's "Big 3" -- may not show up at the industry’s biggest convention this summer.

This is according to a report from IGN citing multiple sources, who claimed the companies won’t be a part of the show or make appearances on the floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center in any way. Their absence from this year’s E3, especially Nintendo’s, may come as a shock to the gaming community, but it's not such a surprise when looking at the past few iterations of E3. Even before the pandemic locked everyone down in 2020, Sony and Xbox had been hosting their own E3-style livestreams, so it was more likely they would do it again this year anyway. Nintendo, on the other hand, managed to show off its upcoming games via Nintendo Direct streams and at its booth, console kiosks and all.

Gaming

Summer Game Fest returns just before E3 2023 next June

The official artwork confirming Summer Game Fest's return on June 8, 2023.

Geoff Keighley has confirmed when Summer Game Fest will return in June 2023. It will begin with a live kickoff show on June 8, 2023, placing Keighley's game announcement alternative less than a week before E3's grand (intended) 2023 return.
Unlike past years, Summer Game Fest Live Kickoff 2023 will feature a live audience, like Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards. It will take place in the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park, with tickets going on sale in early 2023. It will still be livestreamed across platforms like YouTube and Twitch, though. It's currently unknown who's participating, how long Summer Game Fest will run afterward, or if it will feature a Summer Game Fest Play Days-like element for fans. Still, Keighley says all of that info will be revealed ahead of the event next year, teasing what people can expect.
"In keeping with tradition, we'll have tons of exciting announcements from the developers that are pushing the games industry forward, and will once again highlight other publisher digital events, demos, and more surprises to be announced in the coming months," Keighley says in a press release.
That June 8 start date, and the other Summer Game Fest events likely to follow, put Keighley's show just ahead of E3 2023. The ESA and ReedPop plan to bring E3 back between June 13 and June 16, 2023. With five days of lead time on E3, Summer Game Fest can coexist with the long-running gaming conference and encompass the plethora of publisher showcases that tend to precede E3.
Geoff Keighley made it clear that he wants Summer Game Fest and E3 to coexist for a while. "We've had extensive conversations with ReedPop about E3," he said in an interview with Epic Games Store. "I think it'll kind of fit together and flow kind of from what we're doing into what they're doing and stuff. E3, to me, is this kind of master brand that represents gaming news in June."
With the start date of Summer Game Fest confirmed, the coexistence of these two summer gaming events is a reality. Summer Game Fest returns on June 8, 2023.