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These days, a zombie-focused video game can still capture audiences’ excitement and anticipation, but they need to deliver something that feels refreshing, unique, and/or of unmatched quality. More games, both AAA and indie, release in the modern era than ever before. That means that there’s likely more than a handful of upcoming zombie games to look forward to at any given time.
Updated January 26, 2023 by Jerrad Wyche: Zombies may feel like an overdone enemy type in the world of video games, but each new calendar year provides new opportunities for the genre to be explored in inventive ways.
Both the big-budget AAA space and small indie developers remain interested in providing people with entertaining ways to unleash chaos on the undead. Whether it’s from Germany, Ukraine, the United States, or somewhere else, there are studios set to release some promising zombie games people should look forward to in 2023.
10 Wanderlost
Indie games deserve love, so it’s nice to shine a light on a zombie-centric one that fans can’t wait to get their hands on. Wanderlost is a survival role-playing simulation game where players control a red-headed adventurer looking to fight back against the zombie infestation.
Its beautiful art style, in combination with both its RPG mechanics and crafting system, is looking to provide fans of the genre with a colorful take on a post-apocalyptic world. Wanderlost is currently in beta and is hoping to launch in the coming year if things go according to plan.
9 Projekt Z
Hard to imagine that a game simply called Projekt Z will release in 2023, but this World War II zombie shooter has made quite the impression with its trailers. Not only does it provide a captivating atmosphere that infuses a bit of horror into the well-tread genre setting, but visually the game offers beautiful lighting and textures.
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The developers are a fresh new German indie studio called 314 Arts comprised of nine total employees. It’ll offer both single-player and online co-op zombie killing spectacles as players try to uncover Nazi secrets hidden on an occupied island.
8 Dead Island 2
At Gamescom Opening Night Live in 2022, a game was re-revealed that many people around the globe thought was all but dead. It was unveiled that Deep Silver Dambuster Studios had managed to take over the project and will be delivering it to patient fans on April 28, 2023.
The game’s reveal trailer focused on a character bearing a striking resemblance to rock star Lenny Kravitz and focused on the levity-infused zombie destruction the game will put at the hands of its players. Dead Island 2 will also no longer be taking place on an island, as the game primarily takes place in the state of California.
7 The Lords Of The Fallen
The Lords of the Fallen is a game that happens to be confusing for several reasons. A game titled Lords of the Fallen was released nearly a decade ago and offered a Souls-like experience in its unique fantasy world. This 2023 title serves as a spiritual reboot of sorts for the series and isn’t the typical new zombie game one would expect.
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The player takes on enemies that are more demonic in nature, but the trailers and press releases have indicated that undead threats lurk in the dark. Fans and critics alike are hoping that the criticisms of the first title are taken into account and The Lords of the Fallen ends up being the best version of what this series set out to accomplish.
6 The Day Before
The zombie genre is one that can be tackled quite ambitiously in the world of video games. The Day Before by developer Fntastic is one such example. It’s pitched as an open-world MMO survival game taking place in a post-apocalyptic environment filled with zombies. What sets it apart in a crowded genre is its graphical fidelity and the dense metropolitan areas in which it seems to take place.
Due to the scope and ambition of the project, its release date has been moved several times. However, both its publisher and developer hope to get it into the hands of gamers in the early part of 2023.
5 Dying Light 2 Story DLC
It’s currently unclear what the next big piece of downloadable content will be for 2022’s Dying Light 2, but it’s been confirmed that developer Techland is sticking to the game’s post-launch roadmap and will deliver a major DLC release by the end of 2023.
Despite Dying Light 2 releasing to middling reviews that mostly labeled it as an enjoyable time that wasn’t innovative or pushing the gaming medium forward in any dramatic way, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a community of players excited to have reasons to hop back into its world of the undead.
4 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl
When S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl was revealed in 2018 gamers were excited to hop into the world of a series that found a diehard cult community on PC with the release of the first game. Its sequel was originally supposed to release in late 2022, but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Kyiv-based studio GSC Game World had to move its operation to Prague in the Czech Republic.
Due to their circumstances, it’s safe to assume anything and everything is on the table, but fans are hoping to be able to play the game in 2023. It’ll also be releasing day one on Xbox Game Pass, which will infuse it with a large player base willing to explore what it has to offer.
3 Dead Space Remake
Later the spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, The Callisto Protocol, will be discussed, but that doesn’t mean players should forget the Dead Space Remake. Fans have been clamoring for Electronic Arts to return to the survival horror series, which eventually led to the publisher working n a full-blown remake of the first game.
Dead Space Remake will release in early 2023. The game is overhauling much of the graphical performance and sound design, while also giving most of the assets a modern-day facelift of sorts. Though the Necromorphs of Dead Space aren’t technically zombies, the description states that they’re mutated corpses, which in some ways could be considered a loose definition of what a zombie is.
2 State Of Decay 3
Undead Labs feels like a game developer destined to deliver a truly remarkable zombie experience in the world of video games. Their first entry in the genre was a lower-budget arcade-style zombie survival game that won the hearts of gamers despite its many bugs and issues. Its sequel, State of Decay 2, took the series forward, with a game that felt higher budget, but still felt like a learning experience.
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In 2020, State of Decay 3 was revealed, and interviews with the studio suggest they’re working on making this the zombie survival game they’ve felt they were capable of delivering. Now owned by Microsoft and overseen by Xbox Game Studios, it seems that the third installment in the State of Decay series could be the one that puts Undead Labs on the map in a major way.
1 Resident Evil 4 Remake
It feels as though the Resident Evil fandom has been waiting on the eventual announcement and release of Resident Evil 4 Remake since they got their hands on Resident Evil 2 Remake in 2019. As March 2023 inches ever closer, the gaming landscape is preparing. Fans of the original and those looking to experience it for the first time will dive into what many consider to be the best game in the long-running and historic Resident Evil series.
Resident Evil 4 is often lauded as having the best combination of survival horror and action gameplay. It served as the sweet spot for a series that lost its horror roots and shifted towards action in the games that followed it.
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