State of Decay 2 gets Xbox Series X/S update, new Difficulty level, more achievements

Undead Labs has introduced a suite of new features to State of Decay 2 in a new update that brings the game well and truly to next-gen consoles.

Developer Undead Labs published a new update for State of Decay 2 on Xbox Series S and Series X that optimizes the game for next-gen hardware, as well as introducing a new difficulty level, more achievements, and more besides.

As outlined in a post over on the Xbox site, Undead Labs' latest patch has brought faster load times, improved world and shadow detail, and more graphical enhancements besides to the new consoles –  both of which will run the game at 60fps and up to 4K.

Additionally, whether you're playing on new hardware, PC, or Xbox One, you'll now be able to experience the game with a new difficulty: Lethal.

This newest challenge reduces the resources around the world, makes enemies more dangerous with higher damage output, and increases the deadliness of blood plague, to boot. Plague Hearts grow faster (meaning undead infestations spread quicker) and have a chance to repopulate, too.

All of these new difficulty elements can be wrapped into the Custom difficulty setting, giving you some more control over exactly how punishing your next run through the game will be.

If you are playing on Lethal, there are 100G worth of new achievements up for grabs, too – a nice little extra incentive for all the score-hunters out there.

Finally, there's the Stay Frosty Pack, which includes over a dozen themed items that can be earned as rewards by completing new challenges. All of these will help you in some way or another against the amassing forces of the undead.

State of Decay 2 is available via Xbox Game Pass, and can be played on Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One and PC. The game was first released in May 2018 year and had a fairly successful launch and a decent critical reception.