Frontier's hit game Planet Coaster is one of the biggest success stories in recent years. Since then, the developer has gone from strength to strength and even released a spin-ff game in Planet Zoo.
Born out of the remnants of the Rollercoaster Tycoon series, Planet Coaster has an incredibly loyal fanbase. Even then, it was a big surprise to even the most hardcore fans when the announcement of Planet Coaster 2 was made.
Planet Coaster 2 promises to bring with a whole load of fun new features, as well as improvements on the original game. With no release date officially confirmed for Planet Coaster 2, but with some indication as to when it might be, here is everything we know about the much-anticipated game.
The upcoming sequel to one of the most beloved theme park management games of all time, Planet Coaster 2 will allow players to build and manage the theme park of their dreams.
Want to create a land of wonder and mystery? You can do so. Or how about something fantastic and scary? You can do that too. Perhaps you would even like to pay homage to a real park and build something we might see in the real world? There are endless possibilities in Planet Coaster 2.
With tonnes of scenery options, players can build whatever they wish, whether that is rides, coasters, entrances, buildings, and anything else you might encounter in a theme park.
In Planet Coaster 2, there are modes that let you undergo challenges to save ailing theme parks, modes to let you build a theme park from scratch with financial limitations, and of course, the classic Sandbox mode that allows players to let their imaginations run wild.
Although there is no official release date for Planet Coaster 2 as of yet, the announcement trailer for the game did promise us that it would be later this year.
Specifically, Planet Coaster 2 will release in Fall 2024. If you need to know what 'Fall' is, the months considered to be Fall are September, October, and Novemeber.
Given that we're already in September, we find it unlikely that Planet Coaster 2 will release this month. Instead, we expect that an official release date, probably sometime in November, will be given late-September to early-October.
One big plus is that, unlike with the original Planet Coaster game, Planet Coaster 2 will release on all platforms on the same day. They are currently all slated to release at the same time on each platforms respective store pages.
Another positive is that Frontier are known to be incredibly reliable with release dates, unlike many other developers nowadays, so there is likely to be no delays to the release of Planet Coaster 2.
Planet Coaster 2 will release on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and the PS5.
For PC players, the game will release on both Steam and Epic Games, meaning that players will have both options if they desire to play on a specific platform.
As for Xbox players, it's currently unknown if Planet Coaster 2 will release on the platforms subscription service, Game Pass. This means that players who are looking to play Planet Coaster 2 on Xbox may need to purchase the game in order to do so.
The big news coming with the release of Planet Coaster 2 is that the game will include water parks, a feature that fans of the first game were asking for ever since it released.
Water slides of all shapes and sizes will be included in Planet Coaster 2, as will pools and new facilities like changing rooms. These can be built side-by-side with your rollercoasters, as is visible in the trailer below.
Alongside the new facilities, they are also new logistical elements in Planet Coaster 2, such as the need to manage the power usage of the rides within your park.
There are a host of new rollercoasters in the game as well, including the B&M Surf Coaster that debuted in SeaWorld Orlando in 2023. Other rollercoasters in the game have also been given new features that have long been asked for, such as drop tracks, switch tracks, and turntables.
The path tool has also been upgraded within the game, enabling players to build actual plazas for the very first time. This was never possible in the original Planet Coaster, with players instead having to place scenery over paths to create pseudo-plazas, much to their annoyance.
Finally, new themes have been added to the game, something that is sure to be a hit with fans given that they will have to start again with the Thememaker's Tool Kit. One of these themes is the aquatic theme, which has been seen heavily in the gameplay shown thus far.
Those themes can be added to rides in better ways than ever before, too. Players in Planet Coaster 2 will be able to add scenery items directly to flat rides and coaster cars to give them a uniqueness that was never possible in the original game.
While we haven't seen too much gameplay yet, the developers have posted deep dives that have set fans' tongues wagging.
And we can expect that this will all be just the tip of the iceberg, those deep dives haven't yet revealed everything new in Planet Coaster 2. Not just that, but there will also be next features coming to Planet Coaster 2 throughout it's life, as Frontier always provide great DLC content.
While not possible in the original Planet Coaster game, attempting multiplayer became a huge thing within the community.
Players would send each other save files, each adding their own unique touches to it to achieve greater results, and that will be easier to do in Planet Coaster 2.
Although active multiplayer is still not possible in Planet Coaster 2, players are once again able to upload their parks and blueprints so that friends can experience them and even add to them.
With all that said, how better to end our everything we know about Planet Coaster 2 than with the announcement trailer?
Not only does the Planet Coaster 2 trailer show some of the new features in the game, it also shows off the fact that the game will come with a graphical upgrade too.
The release of Planet Coaster 2 can't come soon enough.
Do you need something to play while you wait for the release of Planet Coaster 2? Check out our article on how to get access to Valve's new game, Deadlock.
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