Planet Zoo

Background

Players build habitats piece by piece, manage the zoo, research and care for each species, and breed animals and release new generations back into the wild, in a game that puts animal welfare and conservation first. It was directed by Piers Jackson and was followed by Planet Zoo 2. Players can share their habitats, scenery and even whole zoos with the community on the Steam Workshop, and download designs made by other players into their own zoos. The game shipped with 73 animals on 5 November 2019. Over the years Frontier celebrated the release anniversary with updates: Update 1.7.2 added the Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur and the Bernie's Bakes shop, Update 1.11.2 the Red Deer, Update 1.15.2 the Collared Peccary and Update 1.18 the African Leopard, and every one of them except 1.18 also brought limited-edition 'Wippi Abbonibo' (Happy Anniversary) foil balloons.

Frontier expanded Planet Zoo with paid downloadable content. The Deluxe Upgrade Pack added the Komodo Dragon, the Pygmy Hippo and Thomson's Gazelle, together with the soundtrack album 'You, Me & Other Animals: The Music of Planet Zoo'.

The Arctic Pack was the first DLC pack, with the Arctic Wolf, Dall Sheep, Polar Bear and Reindeer and scenery inspired by Scandinavian architecture. It was followed by the South America, Australia, Aquatic, Africa, Europe, Conservation, Twilight, Tropical and Oceania packs, each bringing new animals with a themed set of scenery pieces; the Australia Pack, for example, added the Dingo, the Koala and the Red Kangaroo among others.

The Southeast Asia Animal Pack was the first animal pack, with eight species including the Sun Bear and the Proboscis Monkey. Later animal packs were the North America, Wetlands, Grasslands, Arid, Eurasia, Barnyard, Zookeepers, Americas and Asia animal packs. The Barnyard Animal Pack, unlike most animal packs, also included scenery, inspired by farms and ranches, and the Zookeepers Animal Pack was in effect a fifth-anniversary DLC.