State of Decay dev hires ArenaNet co-founder Pat Wyatt
Who specialises in "developing really big multiplayer games".
State of Decay developer Undead Labs has hired one Patrick Wyatt, a man who specialises in "developing really big multiplayer games", like MMOs, like Guild Wars - the game he co-created alongside Undead Labs founder Jeff Strain. (The only missing Musketeer is Mike O'Brien, current head and only remaining founder of Guild Wars developer ArenaNet.)
Undead Labs' raison d'etre always has been to make a zombie MMO. State of Decay, a single-player game, was a sensible way of testing the waters, and it was a huge hit.
Class4, a codename for the planned MMO, was the obvious next step for the studio, but despite State of Decay's rip-roaring success, Undead Labs got stuck in negotiations with publisher Microsoft.
Earlier this month, however, Undead Labs announced a multi-year, multi-game deal with Microsoft, signifying a successful end to talks.
Of Wyatt's hire, Jeff Strain wrote: "Today, I'm very happy to announce that Patrick has joined Undead Labs, and will be working shoulder-to-shoulder with Team Zed as we dive into the development of... well, what's next, and beyond."
With the success of State of Decay both commercially and critically behind it, and with the Xbox One and a deal with Microsoft in front of it, I'd say the future for Undead Labs was very bright indeed.