You may not have heard of State of Decay 2 by name. The game, released in 2018 for Xbox One, presents a world where you must create a community to fight against hordes of zombies. It can’t be said that it was an incredible success, but in 2021 it reached 10 million players. And among them was Bruce Allen Buncombe’s son.
Rest in pixels
We don’t know the name of the son, who goes by the name EmbarrassedBudget on Reddit, but we do know his story: his father passed away three years ago, and he wanted to pay tribute to him. He didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do, but he sent a message to Undead Labs, the studio, without expecting anything in return. They couldn’t do much, but to honor his life, they named one of the hundreds of digital survivors after him.
And now, after three years, his son has finally found him: Bruce Allen Buncombe, a survivor who before the zombie apocalypse had a medical practice, led a peaceful life, and is now “old and tired.” And yes, you guessed it: the real Bruce also had a medical practice, was peaceful, and considered himself “old and tired.” Ay.
“This will be my community forever,” said EmbarrassedBudget, adding “That’s my father, immortal. We may grow older and forget about this game (I highly doubt it), but no matter what happens, he will always be a part of it.” After all, video games can be much more than adventures, role-playing games, or puzzles: they can be testimonies of who we are, of who we want to be, of who we will be, leaving a mark in a digital world forever. Well done, State of Decay 2. Very well done.