State of Decay's first DLC, "Breakdown," has been submitted to Microsoft for pre-certification test, developer Undead Labs announced today. They expect that the DLC will be released on Xbox 360 by the end of October.
"First, our excellent QA team at Microsoft will spin up multiple teams on two continents for around-the-clock testing," Undead said on their blog. "Most of these guys were involved with State of Decay, so they are not only able to find bugs - which is always an essential task - but also help us understand where we are and are not hitting the mark for the survival experience we’re working hard to create. These guys are hard-working, passionate badasses, and we’re glad they’ve got our backs."
In the coming week, Microsoft's QA team will provide Undead with feedback. The developers will then iron out any issues that they find and submit the DLC for formal certification. They expect that to happen by the end of next week.
"As we’ve said before, we like to be transparent about our plans, but things could change. Our test team could turn up some huge game-screwing design flaw next week. We might make a mistake in the packaging format and fail certification. The government shutdown could close down the internetz. Anything could happen."
"Breakdown" is the previously announced Sandbox mode. It allows players to create and maintain a community of survivors without worrying about story missions. As the supplies in Trumbull Valley begin to dwindle, players can fix up an RV and try to escape with as many survivors as possible. They'll be then transported to a fresh version of the Trumbull Valley so they can do it all over again.
However, your next play-through won't be as easy as the first. Each time you restart the Sandbox mode, the zombies become faster and tougher. Survivors, meanwhile, will take damage more easily. They'll also find fewer vehicles and resources throughout the game world. You'll have to be more stealthy and conservative in order to survive.
"I’ve made it my goal to create a version of the game that gets so hard by the end, I can barely play it, and then let you folks show me how it’s done," said designer Geoff Card of the Breakdown DLC.
Undead isn't sure on the DLC's price yet, as it's up to publisher Microsoft to decide. They also haven't announced when the content will come to the PC version, currently available through Steam Early Access.
