Planet Zoo 2 is out today. Frontier Developments' sequel to its 2019 zoo builder unlocks on October 13 at 3PM BST (10AM ET, 7AM PT), on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The standard edition is $49.99, the Deluxe Edition is $64.99, and anyone who pre-purchased on Steam has been able to pre-load since yesterday afternoon. This is the first time a Planet Zoo game has launched on consoles and PC on the same day, and it brings the two things fans of the original asked for most: animals that swim and animals that fly.
Release time and how to get in
Frontier has set one global unlock time of 3PM BST on October 13. That works out to 2PM UTC, 4PM CEST, 10AM Eastern and 7AM Pacific, and Frontier has published a time-zone map for anyone further afield. Steam pre-loads opened at 3PM BST on October 12 for players who pre-purchased, so the download should already be on your drive and the game will unlock when the clock hits.
There are two editions. The $49.99 base game is the full simulation. The $64.99 Deluxe Edition adds the Deluxe Upgrade Pack, which brings six extra animal species from around the world and a set of exclusive animal signs for decorating your park. Pre-purchasing either edition also earned a Bonus Content Pack: a Toucan Eat Shop with matching signage, three unique animal donation bins and a tiger photo stand-in wall. Frontier's launch-week messaging ties that pack to the pre-purchase window, so if you want it, check the store page today before assuming it is still on offer.
Aquariums: the headline addition
The biggest change from the first game is underwater. Planet Zoo 2 adds fully aquatic species for the first time, kept in freshwater or saltwater aquariums that you build and decorate yourself. Frontier's launch roster includes Blacktip Reef Sharks and Hawksbill Turtles alongside shoals of reef fish, and the tanks are built with the same piece-by-piece tools as the land habitats, so an aquarium can be a small display tank or a walk-through centrepiece. Keepers have to go into the water to look after them, diving suits and all.
Aviaries and flying birds
Birds get the same treatment. Like the aquatic species, free-flying birds are new to the series: the sequel adds fully flying birds, from the Toco Toucan to the Secretarybird, housed in aviaries you build from barriers, support poles and dynamic mesh covers. Inside, birds move freely between the ground and the air, so an aviary is a habitat in its own right rather than a cage stuck onto a path. Frontier has spent the last few weeks before launch adding species to its online Zoopedia, with the final batch including the Greater Flamingo, Javan Green Magpie, Siamang, Red-eyed Tree Frog, Grizzly Bear and North Sulawesi Babirusa, and it says a few more animals are still to be revealed.
Beyond the fence: Wildlife Reserves
The other new system takes animals out of the zoo altogether. Through global conservation projects, players meet specific requirements and then release animals into Wildlife Reserves: large, customisable areas set in living ecosystems across the world. It gives the conservation side of the game an end goal beyond keeping a breeding programme going, and it is where the sequel's bigger, open landscapes come in.
Frontier is also promising a generational step up in how animals look and move, with more natural animation, visible emotions and herd behaviour. Animals graze on the vegetation you plant and interact with the terrain around them rather than standing in an enclosure waiting for a feeder.
Building, blueprints and the Frontier Workshop
Construction carries over the Planet series' piece-by-piece tools, now with scaling, flexi-colour, simpler pathing and new foliage and terrain brushes. There are four new scenery themes based on architecture from around the world, plus five themes returning from the original game. For players who would rather not build every shop by hand, a library of ready-made blueprints can be dropped straight into a park.
The Frontier Workshop now works across platforms, so blueprints and creations made on PC can be downloaded on console and the other way round. That matters more than usual here, because this is the first time console players are starting out alongside the PC community instead of getting a port years later.
Modes
There are three ways to play. Career mode follows FEN, the Fauna and Ecosystems Network, on a story-led tour of zoos around the world. Franchise mode has you build a global network of zoos and Wildlife Reserves and trade animals with other players. Sandbox removes the money and lets you build freely. There is also a new Photo Mode, which Frontier developed with input from WWF UK, aimed at players who like to stage wildlife shots of their parks.
PC requirements
Planet Zoo 2 is a heavier game than its predecessor, and it needs a DirectX 12 GPU and a 40GB install on all PC configurations.
Minimum: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), Intel i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 16GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB), AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6GB) or Intel Arc A750 (8GB). An SSD is recommended. Frontier notes that because Microsoft has ended support for Windows 10, it cannot guarantee ongoing compatibility there.
Recommended: Windows 11, Intel i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 16GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB), AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12GB) or Intel Arc A770 (16GB). An SSD is required at this tier.
What to do today
If you pre-purchased on Steam, the game should already be downloaded, so you only need to wait for 3PM BST. If you have not bought it yet, the main choice is the edition: the extra $15 for the Deluxe Edition buys six more species and some signage, and the base game contains every system described above. Planet Zoo 2 is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
