Build a zoo around animal care and conservation
Planet Zoo 2 is Frontier Developments' zoo-building and management sequel, where you care for animals, entertain and educate guests, and support conservation through Wildlife Reserves. To get started, use Opening Your First Zoo for the setup sequence, Managing a Zoo for welfare and finances, and the aquarium and aviary guides for aquatic animals and flying birds.
The planned release date is October 13, 2026, with platforms including Windows PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Before launch, you can pre-purchase the game through the Steam page. Start your planning with the official introductory guide, then choose a mode that fits how you want to build.
Choose the mode that matches your goal
| Mode | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Career | Follow the Fauna and Ecosystems Network adventure around the world. |
| Franchise | Build a global network of zoos and Wildlife Reserves, and trade animals with other players. |
| Sandbox | Enjoy unlimited creativity and concentrate on bringing your zoo designs to life. |
Choose Career if the FEN adventure appeals to you, Franchise if you want connected locations and animal trading, or Sandbox if creative building is your main attraction. Think about the experience you want before committing to an elaborate layout. Keep your opening project manageable while you learn how its animals, guests and staff fit together.
Follow the first-zoo setup sequence
Frontier's Opening Your First Zoo guide works through guest infrastructure, staff infrastructure and animal infrastructure before opening the gates. Use that order to give your layout a clear purpose. Ready-to-place blueprints are a useful starting choice if you want to focus on care before detailed construction.
Watch Opening Your First Zoo to see Frontier's introductory setup sequence.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
- Place an entrance blueprint to establish the starting point for your zoo.
- Build pathways to define the layout that your guest areas will follow.
- Place shops to begin providing services for visiting guests.
- Add eating tables, bins and a restroom to complete the guest area's basic amenities.
- Place a generator nearby to supply power to the guest buildings.
- Build a keeper hut so Keepers have somewhere to prepare animal food.
- Build a vet surgery to support checks on your animals' health.
- Add a research center for learning about species, disease, enrichment and education.
- Build an animal trade center to adopt animals and view stored animals across your zoos.
- Add a quarantine building to manage and monitor new animal arrivals.
- Hire the staff types your zoo needs by selecting them and placing them in the zoo.
- Place a staff building where employees can rest and regain energy.
- Adopt your chosen animals through the animal trade center; they will wait in storage while their homes are prepared.
- Prepare each habitat around its animals' food, water, space, terrain, plants, social needs and enrichment requirements.
- Connect a water pump to habitats that require filtration so their water infrastructure is ready.
- Have your adopted animals delivered from the animal trade center once their homes are ready.
- Open the zoo gates after setup to begin welcoming guests and developing your zoo's reputation.
Care for your animals beyond the basics
Each animal has its own welfare requirements, covering access to food and water, enough space, suitable terrain and plants, and a fulfilling social and enrichment environment. Make those needs your habitat checklist. Review the whole environment when something needs attention, rather than treating scenery as the finishing touch that matters most.
Animals also need places to retreat from guest view so they can recover and avoid stress. Build viewing opportunities with that privacy in mind. A habitat should give visitors a good experience while still allowing its residents to withdraw.
Thriving goes beyond meeting basic welfare needs, and achieving it first requires investment in species research. A natural, enriching environment can help animals live longer and encourage guests to donate more. Give your Vets time for research as you improve care, since it unlocks items, welfare options and opportunities to release animals into Wildlife Reserves.
Use the right guide for aquatic animals and birds
Use the aquarium guide when preparing a home for fully aquatic animals. Aquariums need a staff gate for care tasks, and feeder choice depends on the animals being fed. Marine, freshwater and brackish species require appropriate filtration, and aquatic animals cannot all be mixed together.
Use the aviary guide when you want to house flying birds. Aviaries provide covered space for flight, while walkthrough designs need birds that tolerate visitors. Consult the official Zoopedia to learn more about individual animals before deciding which species interests you.
Keep guests, staff and finances working together
Guests need toilets, food, drink and places to rest, and unhappy visitors may leave early or request a refund. Education can come from Educators giving Animal Talks, education items and tours. Treat comfort, animal viewing and learning as connected parts of the visit.
Keepers feed and care for animals, Vets treat illness and conduct research, and Mechanics maintain facilities and habitats. Training, adequate salaries and manageable workloads help keep employees satisfied. As your zoo grows, Work Zones let you assign staff to specific areas.
Expansion, animal adoption and hiring draw from your cash balance, while salaries and energy bills create running costs. Ticket prices, souvenirs and donations are tools for maintaining positive cash flow. Check those ongoing commitments before expanding, then use Managing a Zoo when you want a deeper look at keeping the operation healthy.