Loosely based on the 2006 novel World War Z and set in the same universe as the 2013 film adaptation, the game follows groups of four survivors of a zombie apocalypse.

The game is a co-operative third-person shooter in which four players fight against massive hordes of zombies in seven locations, including New York, Jerusalem, Moscow, Tokyo, Marseille, Rome and Kamchatka.

The studio decided to use the World War Z license for the game as they felt that there were too many risks involved in marketing a new intellectual property.

Gerry Lane, the character played by Brad Pitt from the 2013 film, does not appear in the game as the team opted to include multiple survivors who have their own stories.

The team took inspiration from The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay when they were exploring how they could incorporate elements from the film and the book into the game.

[3] World War Z is supported with regular updates, patches, new episodes including major content for horde mode and hub fixed, most of them being free.

Matt Karch, the CEO of developer Saber Interactive, called getting the game to run on Nintendo's console "the hardest thing that we have had to do".

[17][18] Game Informer compared it to Left 4 Dead series and praised its shooting mechanics, visuals and story, but criticized its soundtrack and lack of non-vocal player interactions.

[27][28] In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version of World War Z sold 27,872 copies within its first week of release in September 2019, placing it at number seven on the all format video game sales chart.