Frontier Developments is bringing audiences back to the zoo. Announced last month, Planet Zoo 2 is the next game in the franchise, which was first released in November 2019. A park management sim, Plant Zoo 2, puts players in the role of zookeepers as they manage, build, and contribute to conservation efforts while building zoos across the world. The first game in the franchise saw prolonged support with over 20 DLC packs, but now this sequel expands on what players could do before, honoring everything they loved.
We had a chance to hear from the development team and learn about some of the new features and improvements coming to Planet Zoo 2. This includes some visual upgrades, new animals and animal behaviors, building mechanics, and brand-new customizable animal reserves. Player creativity seems to be really at the forefront of Planet Zoo 2, and the team kept coming back to it as more was shown.
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Planet Zoo was a really beautiful-looking game when it was released back in 2019, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t have been improvements. Planet Zoo 2 will have a brand new engine with a new lighting system, better shading, animal interactions, and overall visual uplift to the franchise from the previous game. While we were only able to see limited gameplay, there is a noticeable difference from the previous iteration.
Planet Zoo 2 is expanding into the skies and the seas.
This is showcased in the animals as well, whether in how they look visually or just the way they move and interact within their habitat. Animal movements looked way smoother and natural, and not quite as janky as some of them in Planet Zoo, particularly the climbing.
These movements also include how the animals interact with their habitat, as they will not interact with non-enrichment items. One of the examples we saw was a tiger deciding to jump up on its hind legs and lean on a random rock like that had been placed and looked up towards the guests above, like your dog would do if it wanted to say hello to you while on your leg.
We got to see not only how these animals moved and interacted with their habitat, but also some of the visual improvements, such as the animals showing their moods and if they are excited or if something is wrong with them. This is vital, of course, for players as they will need to tend to their animal needs and will still be able to use tabs and UI to see these things, but being able to look at an animal and see it in their body language or face expressions was really cool. All of these improvements can really bring the animals to life and enhance the game’s immersion.
Animal behavior is at the core of the game, enhancing immersion.
We can’t talk about the animals without talking about the big two additions to the Planet Zoo franchise of fish and birds. Players will now be able to construct full-fledged aviaries and aquariums, both freshwater and saltwater, in Planet Zoo 2. These additions will give players even more animals to choose from, along with new challenges and creative ways to play, as they are quite different from the terrestrials.
There will be a variety of species of birds that players will have to choose from and build their aviaries for. I will say one of the concerns I had when they showed off the birds was how hard it would be to build an aviary with all the netting and how difficult it would be to connect each piece to the next to make sure there were no holes. Leaving the question, would this system be convoluted? That said, it looks like actually getting your netting up properly is quite simple and even has some customization, such as a “sag slider.”
Aquariums in the same vein as the aviaries will have quite a few customization options, such as basic saltwater or freshwater, or even utilizing Global Illumination technology that will really make your aquariums pop with bright colors. A variety of small and large decorations, allowing for differing players to really not only get creative but also provide a habitat for multiple species of fish or even turtles.
Planet Zoo 2 is putting creativity at the forefront of its design.
The bird and fish species will have full 3D navigation, allowing them to really explore their habitats and not just meander around. Birds, like their terrestrial counterparts, will interact with various trees, branches, and enrichment toys in their aviaries.
Whether it’s landing or perching, it is all dynamic and really brings that immersion to the game. We saw a toucan just landing and hopping around on a branch during our preview and gave that “aww” feeling you get when you are a real life zoo.
Creativity really is a focal point for Planet Zoo 2, and how you construct your zoos, restaurants, and shops is no different. My favorite part of the preview is the introduction of “open-air” buildings, such as restaurants. This means there doesn’t necessarily need to be four walls, so players can build more cabana-style restaurants or shops if they choose to. This also extends to facilities such as food prep buildings, allowing people to even create areas to show their guests how zookeepers tend to animals.
This extends to the tools for building Planet Zoo 2. Players will be able to build everything piece by piece, or use pre-built blueprints, or even create their own blueprints to future use in other zoos. For players who have played another Frontier Developments franchise, Jurassic World Evolution, will be happy to know that Planet Zoo 2 will also allow players to access the Frontier Workshop directly from the building menus with a click of a button.
Frontier Developments is giving players more options and more animals.
The biggest new feature by far in Planet Zoo 2 will be the interactive, customizable wildlife reserves. Players will be able to design, maintain, and observe their own set of wildlife reserves across the globe. These wildlife reserves once again highlight the core theme of the Planet Zoo franchise: animal conservation.
In Planet Zoo, players would release their animals into natural environments when they felt ready to thrive on their own, and now players will complete conservation projects and do the same in their own customizable reserves, and even watch their newly released animals.
Overall, I came away very impressed from this limited Planet Zoo 2 preview. With the release still a couple of months away, I am sure there are still plenty of new features and animals to showcase. From what I was able to see and hear, what is going into the game really has me excited. The Frontier team proved with Jurassic World Evolution 3, which landed a spot in our Top Games of 2025 list, that they understand how to build for a franchise’s future by honoring what players loved in the past.
Planet Zoo 2 is set to launch on October 13, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
