State of Decay is a 2013 action-adventure survival video game developed by Undead Labs and published by Microsoft Studios.

It places emphasis on how the player's leaderships skills fare against an onslaught of problems, such as diminishing survival resources, group trust and morale, zombie extermination, base defenses, and people's lives.

A remastered version called the Year-One Survival Edition was released for Windows and Xbox One on April 28, 2015 to mixed reviews from critics.

The player is in charge of a small group of survivors and can either follow the storyline or perform tasks that ensure their community's survival.

[9] The player can choose from several locations to build a base, then reinforce and improve it with various facilities like watch towers, gardens, sleeping quarters, kitchens, workshops, medical bays, etc.

Each character has a fixed set of "traits" which give them advantages or flaws (such as tire out more easily, or can improve a certain skill faster).

They respawn infinitely (unless the player establishes an outpost, which prevents spawns), are attracted to noise, and are capable of sprinting nearly as fast as the characters.

In addition, there are special types of zombies, such as the animal-like "Ferals" or the tank-like "Juggernauts" that are quite dangerous in one-on-one confrontations.

After returning from a fishing trip with his friend and a Trumbull local, Ed Jones, he finds that the world has degenerated into a zombie apocalypse.

As the game progresses, the survivors become aware of the United States Army's presence in Trumbull Valley, led by Sergeant Erik Tan and Captain Diane Montressor.

After raiding a zombie-infested warehouse to get explosives, the group head to the only road leading out of the valley, now blocked with a massive concrete wall.

As the smoke clears, the player sees the other side is also filled with destroyed cars and bodies, implying the apocalypse has already spread outside Trumbull Valley.

The DLC adds a "Sandbox Mode", where the player leads a group of survivors in repairing an RV in order to escape the valley.

On February 11, 2014, Undead Labs officially announced news of the "Lifeline" DLC, also confirming it to include the fictional city of Danforth that can be seen just outside Fairfield.

The player will be tasked with keeping a group of survivors alive long enough to get them to safety, as well as defending the main base by setting traps and planning tactics.

But unlike the typical survival only bases that deal with just excesses of hordes, there is a new threat called sieges that get progressively harder with each one that passes.

[15] Jeff Strain, the founder of ArenaNet and co-creator of World of Warcraft, wanted a game where individual players could make up their own zombie survival plans and put them to the test.

[19] On May 16, 2013, Undead Labs announced that State of Decay had gone into the final certification process and is now ready for testing by the game's publisher, Microsoft Studios.

[23] Sanje of Undead Labs stated that "2013 Was a Damned Good Year" in terms of the positive reviews the game received.

Reviewer Arthur Gies wrote, "State of Decay is one of the most cohesive, terrifying and engaging open-world games I've ever played.