The Journey to Planet Zoo 2

Hayo Zookeepers!

All this hubbub around Planet Zoo 2 has put us in something of a nostalgic mood, so today we'll be reflecting back on the journey we took to reach this point. We'll be diving into the archives to travel all the way from Planet Zoo's Beta (was it that long ago?!) through to our recent announcement of Planet Zoo 2.

Whether you've been with us for the whole journey or you're just joining the Planet Zoo community now (hayo!), let's take some time to look back fondly on the past.

Preparing for Lift Off

We unveiled the original Planet Zoo to the public all the way back in April 2019, revealing a first look at a project that had already been in the works for quite some time behind closed doors at Frontier HQ.

Following the successful launch of Planet Coaster, the team set their eyes on the next step for the Planet franchise: creating a new management simulation game that featured authentic animals, empowered players to unleash their creativity and kept animal welfare in focus. As you can imagine, this was no small task! Not only did we have the success of Planet Coaster to maintain, we also had to follow in the footsteps of some giants from the past, including some truly beloved zoo management and tycoon games.

The entire Planet Zoo team worked incredibly hard, collaborating across disciplines to create an authentic zoo simulation that accurately depicted animals while also delivering a fun and engaging management experience. This meant creating new technology from the ground-up, including a custom built shader to render fur, climbing systems for pesky primates, along with enrichment and welfare systems to simulate the animals' behaviour.

Take a trip down memory lane and check out what we had to say about the process of making Planet Zoo back in 2019!

All said and done, there was a huge amount of talent and hard work that went into the original Planet Zoo for us to achieve our vision of building the best zoo simulator out there.

It wasn't long until we got Planet Zoo out into your hands to play for the first time and we were biting our nails with excitement when the Beta kicked off just a few months later in September 2019. It's safe to say all that work paid off, with an amazing response to the initial Beta, including over 7,500,000 animals cared for in Franchise Mode! Right off the bat we were keen to work closely with our players to help shape the game, releasing multiple updates over the course of the Beta as it ran from 24 September to 8 October 2019.

The Beta provided us with a whole swathe of wonderful reactions, requests and feedback which was invaluable over the final phase of development, as we rapidly approached launch in November.

Released to the Wild

Planet Zoo launched on 5 November 2019 and we were overwhelmed with the positive reception as players began creating and running their very own zoos.

Launch was not the end though for Planet Zoo. Over the next 6 years we continued to build and improve the game, releasing:

Over 80 updates, including large free updates introducing everything from new features to more scenery pieces and new animals.
20 content packs, bringing a massive roster of animals from around the globe, new scenarios to complete and diverse scenery pieces to build your zoos.

Across all these releases we worked closely with our community, listening to your requests and shaping Planet Zoo into a game you all truly had a helping hand in building. We slowed animal aging, added customisable screens, revamped animal models, expanded Sandbox Mode's settings, and scoured wishlists and tier lists for the most requested animals to add to your zoos.

We even created some special low-fi beats (to study and relax to, of course):

Ever since we announced Planet Zoo, one of the biggest questions our community had was simply "when is it coming to consoles?". Well, in March 2024 we gave a definitive answer with the release of Planet Zoo: Console Edition.

Packed full of all the free content and updates we'd added to Planet Zoo over the years, Planet Zoo: Console Edition finally brought our zoo management simulation to console players on Xbox and PlayStation, soon followed by the release of all 20 packs.

Sharing the Journey

Throughout Planet Zoo's life, we've been privileged to watch as a fantastic community grew around the game, sharing their creations and their love for animals.

Just last year we celebrated the 6th anniversary of Planet Zoo and spoke to a few of our community members about what Planet Zoo meant to them:

Over the years we've been in awe to watch what you've all created using the tools in Planet Zoo, from spending an in-game century running a zoo, to creating a zoo that only opens at night. You have ran the full gamut of zoo creation, whether taking the conservation message to heart or creating the weird and wonderful.

Not only has the Planet Zoo community created some truly stand out content, you also kindly contributed towards real-world causes and animal conservation, raising thousands of pounds in donations for charities and zoos.

Our community has also been busy packing the Planet Zoo Workshop full of creations that you've shared with other players, from stunning animal habitats to inventive park decorations. Here are just a few of our recent favourites:

With more than 238 million hours played, 8.7 million Franchise zoos created and 3.6 billion animals born, the sheer scale of the community's time and engagement with Planet Zoo is stunning.

Planet Zoo has left its mark on everyone here at Frontier and out in the community (including their dogs!), but now it's time to look to what's coming next...

Building the Future with Planet Zoo 2

After a teeny-tiny tease last November, we announced Planet Zoo 2 a few weeks ago, giving you all your very first look at the sequel:

Fans of the first game will spot the laundry list of popular requests we're bringing to Planet Zoo 2, from aquatic and flying species to improved paths, expanded creative tools and wildlife reserves. Listening to the community has been at the heart of Planet Zoo, since the very first days of the original game's beta, and the sequel will be no different.

Finally, we'd like to leave you with a word from Planet Zoo 2's Game Director, Gareth Hughes:

"From the fur textures to the individual feathers and how our animals react to stimuli in their environment, every detail of Planet Zoo 2’s fauna has been lovingly hand-crafted and guided by real-world research and observation.
Creativity is a cornerstone of Frontier and Planet Zoo 2 builds on our experience in crafting amazing sandboxes for our players to express themselves in. Effortlessly design a stunning zoo using ready to place blueprints, lovingly designed by the development team or the Planet Zoo 2 community. Or if you want to get really creative, finesse the detail with piece-by-piece construction tools to make every creation unique. We want Planet Zoo 2 to be a game which rewards your creativity, where you can build whatever you can imagine and share it with players around the globe.
And that's not all, for the very first time, conservation continues beyond your zoo with Wildlife Reserves. These fully customisable, living ecosystems allow us to achieve one of our ultimate goals with the Planet Zoo series - allowing players to release their animals back into a thriving natural habitat, delivering an authentic conservation experience.
What I love about working on this game is knowing that it brings people together; creative players discussing new habitat ideas, parents sharing a love for the natural world with their children, and curating a cosy environment which provides an escape for our players. It's a truly a special combination, celebrating everyone's unique ambitions and approaches to how they want to enjoy the game"

We can't wait to show you more of what we have up our sleeves over the next few months.

Planet Zoo 2 is available to pre-order now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Join the conversation and keep in touch by following our social channels, subscribing to our mailing list (for an exclusive in-game reward) and watching closely for updates on the website.