Planet Zoo 2

Planet Zoo 2 continues Frontier's zoo simulation with a broader focus on conservation. Players design animal parks, plan habitats, look after staff and visitors, and are responsible for the health of the animals. New features include fully aquatic species, birds that actually fly in aviaries, and large-scale reserves beyond classic zoos. Care in the zoo and reintroduction into protected habitats are linked through shared conservation projects.

Planet Zoo 2 was released on Oct 13, 2026 for Windows PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. After the official release, Steam lists the game as released and generally available. Frontier's launch announcement confirms the start of sales. The announced global release time was 4 PM German summer time.

Alongside the standard edition, a Deluxe Edition is available. Its upgrade adds six more animal species and special signage. Aquariums, walk-in aviaries and Wildlife Reserves, however, are already part of the base game and are not tied to the Deluxe pack.

Native releases are confirmed for Windows PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. For Xbox, Microsoft also lists Xbox Play Anywhere, which links purchases within the supported Xbox ecosystem. This does not mean a native Xbox One version or a Nintendo Switch version. Steam lists Planet Zoo 2 as a single-player title. The cross-platform sharing of building plans in the Frontier Workshop should not be confused with shared live multiplayer.

Each species needs suitable enclosures, vegetation and care planned for it. Frontier promises more differentiated herd and feeding behaviour, movement animations and environmental reactions. This includes classic land animals such as lions and chimpanzees, as well as new water and bird species. Animals are the economic and ecological centre of the zoo: care and enclosure design affect animal welfare, visitor appeal and funds for further projects. At launch, Frontier lists more than 130 animal species, including flying birds and fully aquatic species for the first time.

Unlike its predecessor, fully aquatic animals can now be kept in their own freshwater and saltwater aquariums. Frontier names, among others, blacktip reef sharks, green sea turtles and fish schools. These facilities must be designed as separate habitats and tailored to the needs of each species. They extend the zoo with animal care that cannot be shown with ordinary outdoor enclosures.

Birds such as the great toucan and the secretary bird get large enclosures to fly in. The aviaries can be assembled from supports, barriers and flexible netting. Frontier also shows breeding behaviour and the option to safely combine some walk-in bird enclosures with guests. Movement in the air changes the requirements for building height, sightlines and open space.

A major new feature is the Wildlife Reserves, freely designable protected areas beyond the regular zoo. Players take on international conservation missions, develop habitats and must meet certain conditions before releasing animals from their parks there. The new task shifts part of the responsibility from presenting animals to building functioning ecosystems. In the official Feature Focus video, Frontier showcases, among other things, a reserve in the rainforest of Sumatra.

Running the zoo covers vets and keepers, staff training and morale, visitor offers, income and ongoing costs. Suitable habitats and educational offers are meant to improve animal welfare and the rating of the facility. New is international management of several parks and reserves through an overarching Planet Hub. This location view brings the network together, whether players are in Career, Franchise or Sandbox mode.

Alongside ready-made building plans, the simulation still supports building from individual elements. New path, terrain, colour and vegetation tools are meant to make larger redesigns easier. Four new and five familiar decoration themes form the design base. Through the Frontier Workshop, players can search for and subscribe to structures and templates from the community, and use them across supported platforms. This is a sharing of creations, not proof of cross-play between PC and consoles.

The Career mode links several locations in a network of the Fauna and Ecosystems Network (FEN). In Franchise mode, players can trade animals with other players and run their own zoos. Sandbox mode, by contrast, focuses on free building. On Steam, the title is listed as a single-player game. Community features mainly cover trading and sharing building plans.

The Steam minimum requirements list Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), a Core i7-8700K or Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB RAM, a GeForce RTX 2060 with 6 GB, Radeon RX 5600 XT with 6 GB or Intel Arc A750 with 8 GB, and 40 GB storage. Recommended are Windows 11, a Core i7-10700K or Ryzen 7 5800X, and an RTX 3070, RX 6700 XT or Arc A770. DirectX 12 is required, and an SSD is recommended or required for the recommended profile. Frontier points to the end of regular Windows 10 support from Microsoft.

The Steam listing names German menus, subtitles and voice-over. Steam Cloud and HDR are also offered. For the PC version, Steam lists Denuvo Anti-tamper as third-party DRM. The listed store features do not replace an independent check of performance, controls or accessibility.

Frontier Developments is the developer and publisher. Planet Zoo 2 is the sequel to the zoo-building simulation of the same name and continues its mix of animal care, decorative park building and economic management. However, the expansion with flying animals, underwater worlds and reintroduction areas affects core systems of the new game and is not a later DLC collection for the predecessor.