Frontier Developments – a studio known for its park management sims like Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster – has announced a partnership with Disney to develop and publish a game based on the latter’s IPs. The partnership will involve Frontier Developments taking full responsibility to fund and develop the new games, and the announcement indicates that these projects will also be in the “creative management simulation” genre like the studio’s other works.
In a statement, Frontier Developments CEO Jo Cooke spoke about being happy to work with Disney to create more management sims based on the company’s legendary franchises. While no details about this new project have been revealed, Cooke said that the studio will get to work on iconic and beloved brands.
“We are delighted to announce this collaboration with Disney, which further reinforces our clearly defined strategy of developing and nurturing world-class creative management simulation game franchises. Our mission with this game is to connect a passionate creative community of players with one of the world’s most iconic and beloved brands, and I can’t wait to see what our talented teams will create with this amazing opportunity.”
Considering the works of Frontier Developments, the new project might end up being anything from a smaller-scale theme park builder to a full-fledged Disney World simulator. More details about which IPs, which can range from Disney’s catalog of animated and live-action movies, as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even Star Wars, will likely be revealed as the project makes its way through its pre-production stages.
In the meantime, the studio is currently getting ready for its next major release – Planet Zoo 2. The title is being developed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for release on October 13th. In recent days, Frontier Developments has been releasing quite a few trailers to showcase its various new features, with the most recent one giving us a glimpse at how players can explore their wildlife reserves either on foot or with a research vehicle.
Alongside Wildlife Reserves – a new feature that encourages players to think about wildlife and environmental preservation – Planet Zoo 2 is also introducing aviaries and aquariums to the franchise, with a host of new flora and fauna making their way to the game to use these new installations. Aviaries were showcased with a trailer last month, giving us a look at all of the planning and maintenance that goes into developing an ideal sanctuary for birds.
Aquatic creatures will have their own homes in Planet Zoo 2 thanks to the in-depth implementation of aquariums. Along with the typical management aspects that players will need to take care of, like maintenance, they will also need to ensure that they have appropriately set up their aquariums to support either freshwater or saltwater creatures. Filtration and sanitation systems also need to be built up and maintained.
For more details about Planet Zoo 2, check out the 35-minute deep dive video from back in June that focused on various aspects of the game, from visuals to new features and building mechanics.
