State of Decay 2's Xbox Series X/S Optimizations Are Now Available

State of Decay 2's latest update brings optimizations for both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, including "lightning-quick load times, improved world and shadow detail, and a responsive 60 frames-per-second presentation at up to 4K resolution." Announced on Xbox Wire, this update also adds a new Lethal difficulty that developer Undead Labs has "tuned right to the edge of impossible." Open-world resources are much scarcer, enemies hit much harder, and the blood plague is even deadlier. Plague hearts are also growing everywhere, and destroying one no longer offer safety from other nearby zombie hordes. Additionally, the special "freak" zombies have been swapped for their blood plague variants. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/05/17/state-of-decay-2-review"] Lethal Difficulty also brings with it new achievements for a total of 100 Gamerscore, and aspects of this new difficulty can be mixed and matched with Custom Difficulty so players can create their perfect apocalyptic scenario. State of Decay 2 will also get the Stay Frosty Pack which adds over a dozen winter-themed items that can be earned through in-game challenges or discovered in the open world. This pack includes winter-camouflage weapons and outfits and the ability to use the new Maintenance Bench facility mod to minimize weapon breakage while in the field. The Stay Frosty Pack, like all State of Decay 2 bounty packs, is available free of charge but is only available for a limited time. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-xbox-one-games-fall-2020-update&captions=true"] State of Decay 2's Xbox Series X/S optimizations join other first-party Microsoft games that take advantage of the next-gen systems like Gears 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Sea of Thieves. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.