Planet Zoo 2 demo adds aviaries, aquariums and new tools

Frontier Developments presented a more-than-hour-long sandbox demo of Planet Zoo 2 that focused on construction and habitat systems. The demo introduced dedicated aviaries and aquariums and an overhauled building toolkit that includes live water editing and revised pathing.

The new path builder supports finer placement increments and a line-builder can create raised and stepped walkways. These changes allow for multi-level guest areas and more varied route shapes. Shop shells can now be placed on plazas rather than requiring direct attachment to path edges; individual shop interiors can be added inside shells and guests will path to them correctly. The demo included several in-game shop brands, including Chief Leaf and a pre-order exclusive called Toucan Eat.

Building components have been expanded to permit empty shells, removable walls, free scaling of individual pieces and recoloring of parts. Items imported from the original Planet Zoo will be compatible with the new options. Staff facilities no longer impose a guest-happiness penalty when located near visitor areas, removing a previous placement restriction.

Live water editing lets players reshape or resize water inside habitats without draining them or rebuilding surrounding terrain. Frontier demonstrated the water tools alongside upgraded terrain tools and a nature brush that can add trees, grass and shrubs to link habitats with their surroundings.

The demo also showed two new habitat systems. A walk-through aviary was built for a pair of shoebills using a barrier tool and a roofing system with adjustable support poles. An aquarium was constructed using a glass barrier system and stocked with red lionfish and bannerfish. Frontier demonstrated how these tools can be used to integrate bird and fish exhibits into larger zoo layouts.

The presentation covered cross-platform support for the Frontier Workshop so blueprints can be shared between PC and console players. Frontier also noted expanded animal care and conservation features and a new emotion system revealed in earlier previews. Pre-orders are open and Planet Zoo 2 is scheduled to launch on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X on October 13, 2026, with a physical console edition following on October 28, 2026.

The sandbox demo illustrated specific changes to building and habitat workflows compared with the first Planet Zoo.