Planet Zoo 2 Release Time: When It Unlocks in Your Time Zone

Planet Zoo 2 unlocks at 3 PM BST on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, which is 10 AM ET and 7 AM PT. Frontier Developments is launching it worldwide in one simultaneous moment, so the EU, UK, and US all play together (per the studio’s Release Timing post on Steam, the only official time announcement so far). Pre-load on Steam opens 24 hours earlier, at 3 PM BST on October 12, for anyone who pre-purchased. There’s no early-access window. The Deluxe Upgrade Pack and its six extra species ship on day one for everyone.

Editions and prices

Pre-orders are still open at Steam, the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store.

Planet Zoo 2 is the first sequel to the original Planet Zoo, Frontier’s zoo management sim. The big new additions are fully aquatic species (Blacktip Reef Sharks, Hawksbill Turtles, Pacific bluefin tuna and more) and fully flying birds in custom aviaries, both firsts for the series. Wildlife Reserves are the new spin on the original’s free-build model: you can now release animals you raise into living ecosystems, and Franchise mode lets you trade animals with other players. The full Snow Leopard, Javanese Cownose Ray, and six other recent reveals bring the species count well past the original’s roster.

Our read: the simultaneous worldwide launch is a quiet win for players. There’s no rolling midnight rollout where Europe gets the game first and no separate regional unlocks that make it confusing. Pre-loading 24 hours ahead is also worth flagging for anyone with a slow connection: with the bigger roster and new aviary and aquarium systems, this won’t be a small installation. Franchise mode, with its cross-player animal trading, is the closest thing this series has to a live-service layer, so day-one population matters more than usual. October is stacked with big releases, and Planet Zoo 2 sits on the full October 2026 release list alongside a dozen other launches.

Planet Zoo 2 on the Pixel Herald Release Calendar

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report