Undead Labs, the makers of zombie survival-horror game State of Decay, has teamed up with San Francisco-based game publisher Kabam to create Moonrise, a new role-playing game for mobile devices.
Details about the game are fairly scarce right now, but it’s supposed to be a “multiplayer creature-collection RPG.” Undead Labs founder Jeff Strain said in a blog post that the company wants Moonrise to be a “fresh take” on the creature collection genre, with real-time combat and full character and creature customization.
Working with Kabam provides Undead Labs with a wealth of resources. The publisher is known for a number of game franchises, including “Kingdom of Camelot,” “Dragons of Atlantis,” and “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth.” It recently received a $120 million investment round from China’s Alibaba Group, and plans to make $500 million in revenue this year.
The Undead Labs team is no slouch, either. Strain previously worked at Blizzard on Starcraft, Diablo and the team that would become World of Warcraft, then went on to co-found ArenaNet where he served as the Programmer and Executive Producer on Guild Wars.
The move may seem like a strange one for fans of State of Decay, which is a far cry from what Moonrise appears to be. Strain said fans of the studio’s first game shouldn’t worry about that franchise’s future. While he didn’t announce any concrete plans, he said that the company is continuing to work with Microsoft as a part of an agreement between the two companies to publish future State of Decay games, and the announcement of Moonrise doesn’t signal an end to State of Decay.
Gamers interested in getting a first look at Moonrise will be able to see it at PAX Prime in Seattle later this month. A release date for the game has not yet been announced.
