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We've been hearing a lot recently about potential studios that could close, spin off or find a new buyer as part of the upcoming Xbox layoffs — including the likes of Compulsion Games, Double Fine and Ninja Theory — but one studio that hadn't been part of that conversation until now was Undead Labs.
The developer behind State of Decay 3 was mentioned in a new GamesBeat report today as one of four studios that is potentially trying to find a buyer as we speak. Here's a look at what was said in the report:
"Bloomberg reported earlier that Microsoft is preparing to close multiple game studios if there are no buyers found. And we hear that Microsoft is preparing to take action in early July, just after the close of the financial quarter on June 30.
It’s possible some of the studio jobs will be saved if a buyer is found for any one of the four studios: Double Fine Productions (Kiln, Keeper), Undead Labs (State of Decay), Compulsion (South of Midnight), and Ninja Theory (Hellblade/Senua)."
Windows Central's Jez Corden also says he received information along these lines over the weekend:
"The report comes from GamesBeat, which apparently confirms and coincides with information I received over the weekend. Indeed, Undead Labs seems to be among the studios Microsoft is looking to offload or shut down as part of its fiscal year end.
I'm told the cuts are being driven by Microsoft corporate CFO Amy Hood, who has demanded a variety of savings at Xbox to offset losses ... which were also a result of her previous 30% margin demands."
As mentioned in the GamesBeat quote above, Microsoft is expected to "take action" shortly after the close of its fiscal year on June 30th, so we should start to learn more about the fates of these studios either later this week or next week.
We're certainly hoping Xbox either decides to retain Undead Labs or the studio can find a buyer, as State of Decay 3 seems to be coming along well based on the 72 minutes of footage we recently saw of it. Stay tuned for more details.