Splash Damage Nearly Acquired State of Decay Developer

Emona Capital was set to help facilitate the agreement.

According to The Game Business, State of Decay developer Undead Labs nearly came under the control of British studio Splash Damage, but the deal ultimately fell through.

The arrangement anticipated that Splash Damage would acquire Undead Labs with financial backing from the investment firm Emona Capital. This same fund also supports British publisher Secret Mode and other gaming ventures. The reasons behind the collapse of the agreement remain unspecified. Following this, Undead Labs managed to return to independence, with the studio becoming owned by its employees.

At present, the studio continues to work on State of Decay 3, though an official publisher for the game has not yet been announced.

All of these changes form part of a broader “reboot” of the Xbox gaming division. As part of the restructuring, the company also cut hundreds of employees and reallocated several internal teams. Specifically, the Halo franchise was transferred to Activision, World’s Edge and Rare also transitioned under its management, Obsidian Entertainment was moved into the Bethesda corporate structure, and Turn 10 Studios is merging with Playground Games.