Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Adds Recruitable Dogs Ahead of Its Xbox Launch

Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days now lets you take in a dog, and it’s the latest big Early Access update before the zombie survival game launches on Xbox Series X|S in March 2027.

PikPok has released Update #16 for Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days, its side-scrolling shelter survival game set in a zombie-overrun Texas in 1980. The headline addition is recruitable dogs. There are also weapon repairs and a rework of how shelters are defended.

The game has been in Early Access since 9 April 2025, but it isn’t on Xbox yet. That changes with the full 1.0 release, so every Early Access update is effectively building the version Xbox players will get at launch.

Dogs can help your shelter, or wreck it

You can now find dogs while scavenging and bring them back to your shelter. Three breeds are in so far: a German Shepherd, a Border Collie and a Golden Retriever. Once a dog joins, it stays in the shelter, and you’ll need to feed it, pet it and look after it. PikPok’s warning is blunt: “Neglecting their needs can prove fatal.”

Dogs also affect the people around them. They can change survivor morale, and each survivor’s traits decide whether they welcome a dog or resent having it around. During shelter events, a dog can be a help or a hindrance. It might get separation anxiety and damage your barricades while the group is out, or it might scare off bandits and leave weapons behind for you to collect.

PikPok showed the update off in a short teaser on X:

Early Access Update #16 for Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is out now. pic.twitter.com/ZuN9OUKx3U

— Into the Dead (@intothedead) October 27, 2026

Weapon repairs and tougher shelter defence

According to the official Update #16 post, a new Maintenance Bench lets you repair weapons and dismantle them, so rare and powerful weapons can last much longer over a long run. Weapon durability has been rebalanced to match.

Shelter defences have been overhauled too. Shelters now come under zombie attack over time, and you can assign survivors to defend them. Ammunition has also been reworked in the inventory, a change PikPok says players asked for a lot, and the update includes a batch of bug fixes.

When is it coming to Xbox?

PikPok announced in August that Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days will leave Early Access with its 1.0 release in March 2027, including a launch on Xbox Series X|S. The Microsoft Store listing is live and says “Coming to Xbox Series X|S”, but it doesn’t have a date or price yet.

There may be a more exact date already. Replying to a fan on X, the official account said that “11 March is our hard launch + console release“. PikPok hasn’t put that date in a press release or on the store yet, so treat it as likely but not final. In another reply, it said co-op is “not currently part of the roadmap before hard launch“.

We’ll keep our Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days hub up to date as the Xbox launch gets closer.

Would a dog make your shelter better, or just one more mouth to feed? Tell us on X or Facebook.