Thanks to its unique blend of survival and base-building elements, and an open-world sandbox filled with zombies,State of Decay 2was arguably way ahead of its time. Even nearly seven years after its original release,State of Decay 2is still highly worth revisiting or experiencing for the first time.
Depending on how long it’s been since players last playedState of Decay 2, there may have been a handful of updates released in the time since, offering new content and improvements to the game for players to experience. By now,State of Decay 2has received its final update, as Undead Labs is focusing onthe upcoming sequel,State of Decay 3. So, whether players want to return to experience some of the previous updates for the game, or to prepare for the next entry in the franchise, right now is arguably the best time to playState of Decay 2.
Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Jump Back Into State of Decay 2
Experiencing State of Decay 2’s Biggest Post-Launch Updates
Aside from the massive amount of QoL improvements that have been added throughout the past years, some of the most notable features fromState of Decay 2’s latest updatesare the changes to Plague Hearts, the new Curveball modifiers, and the difficulty changes. Given how big some of these changes are, returning players might want to start a new playthrough to experience these new features at a guided pace, rather than resuming an in-progress playthrough and being overwhelmed by them.
For returning players, existing Survivors andLegacy Boons inState of Decay 2can be accessed on subsequent playthroughs, offering a form of New Game+, though players can always start a fresh playthrough from scratch without these features.
Instead of Plague Hearts being dormant objectives for players to put off until the endgame, they now slowly claim more and more territory, until eventually triggering Plague-Infested sieges on the player’s Community. Meanwhile, the newCurveball modifiers inState of Decay 2periodically trigger buffs, like increased chance of finding particular loot/resources, or debuffs, such as increased detection range for special infected. These features go hand in hand with making the game feel much more dynamic, providing quite a bit of variation between playthroughs that overall improves the game’s replayability.
Prepare for the Upcoming State of Decay 3 with a Fresh Playthrough of State of Decay 2
Another great reason to return toState of Decay 2for a new playthrough in 2025 is to prepare for the upcoming sequel, whether it be to refresh on the series' mechanics and gameplay loop or to get a better grasp ofState of Decay 3’s improvements over its predecessorsand how it evolves the franchise’s shared universe. Much like howState of Decay 2is a continuation of the original game’s story, it’s safe to assume that the upcoming third entry in the franchise will be yet another sequential chapter of the ongoing zombie apocalypse, with some direct tie-ins for longtime franchise fans to recognize.
There’s currently no exact release date set forState of Decay 3, though it is anticipated to release sometime in early 2026.
