Zoo Tycoon spiritual successor Planet Zoo finally launches on Xbox Series X|S this year Planet Zoo will finally make its way to Xbox Series X|S in March, and after being invited to play a preview build, I can happily say it's the zoo management experience I've always wanted on console.Tom West Published 30 Jan 2024 FollowtopicsXbox Series X|SArticleTom West Planet Zoo, the hit zoo management PC game from Frontier Developments, will finally launch on Xbox Series X|S on March 26. We recently had a chance to play a preview build of the game on Xbox to put our management skills to the test — which we failed due to spending far too much time watching the animals go about their daily business.As a teenager, I was obsessed with the original Zoo Tycoon game, spending far more hours than I'd like to admit filling parks with various animals. It was a fantastic game, but after I moved over to Xbox as my platform of choice, I left the predominantly PC-based genre behind. Since then, games like Jurassic World Evolution have arrived on consoles and soaked up some of my time, but nothing has hit me with the nostalgia stick for 2001's Zoo Tycoon. Frontier Development's 2013 Zoo Tycoon, which launched on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, was great fun, but compared to its predecessors, we were only given limited freedom when creating a park.That all changes with Planet Zoo, the spiritual successor to Zoo Tycoon, which gives you the freedom to create incredible parks without stringent build limits attached, similar to the Jurassic Park Evolution games. Planet Zoo has been available on PC since 2019, and its console release brings all the features, animals, and content that have been added to the game over the last four years via free updates. It's been redesigned to be played using a controller, and if you've played Planet Coaster on Xbox, you'll find that Planet Zoo features a similar menu design. Career, Franchise, Challenge, and Sandbox modes will be available when it launches in March, and during my hands-on time with it, I was given the freedom to explore a pre-made zoo. Planet Zoo is all about construction and management, so I was happy to have something built by a veteran to explore, as I spent a good portion of my time fumbling through the menus and vast range of customization items as I attempted to please the hyenas I was homing.Planet Zoo is as much an educational tool as it is a video game, giving your animals realistic behaviors, personalities, and needs — all shared in the highly detailed Zoopedia. Similar to other sims, homing an animal means crafting a habitat to meet its exact needs, so after choosing some flora and terrain for my hyena friends, I filled their new pad with numerous toys and cosmetic items. Compared to the wonderfully constructed pens built by the devs, my hyenas were living far from a luxurious lifestyle, so I think I'll be spending many hours in the future perfecting my skills. They seemed happy enough, however, and I celebrated by using the cinematic follow cam to sit back and enjoy the happy hyenas playing, eating, and doing a whole lot of sleeping. Frontier includes a host of mechanics that replicate real-life animal behavior, so constructing sleeping areas hidden from the park's visitors and ensuring the correct number of animals, species, and even genders, don't clash is important to their happiness. Upsetting your animals will upset your guests.Looking after the animals is just half of the battle in Planet Zoo, as getting visitors through the door is paramount for your cash flow. Treat the animals badly and you might end up with protestors, don't employ staff to clean the park, serve the guests, and care for your animals, and you'll soon end up bankrupt. Using the heat map is extremely helpful to see where your park is weakest for a multitude of factors, giving you a chance to add all manner of customizable facilities to keep everyone happy. It's a complex game, but it didn't take too long to pick up the fundamentals and succeed as a novice zoo builder. Those looking to fall into something steeped in real-world experiences will find Planet Zoo a great game to master, and with Sandbox mode offering challenge-less gameplay, casual players can sit back and craft an animal sanctuary of their dreams.Planet Zoo launches on Xbox Series X|S on March 26 for $49.99 / £39.99 / €49.99, and pre-ordering will unlock three exclusive animals for your collection: Pygmy Hippopotamus, Komodo Dragon, and Thomson’s Gazelle.Alongside the Standard Edition, Deluxe and Ultimate Editions are also available. The Deluxe Edition can be picked up for $59.99 / £49.99 / €59.99 and packs in 16 additional animals and two scenarios set in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, and the wetlands. As for the Ultimate Edition, priced at $119.99 / £99.99 / €119.99, you'll get the Deluxe content as well as the Season Pass, which will give you access to 14 future DLC packs. We haven't got the Planet Zoo achievements just yet, but you can be sure we'll let you know when they arrive.My short exposure to Planet Zoo has filled me with excitement for its launch on Xbox Series X|S in March. As a father of an animal-obsessed son, it'll be a blast to sit down and create something special with him, all the while giving him a chance to learn about animal conservation along the way.Xbox Series X|S Written by Tom WestTom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with a number of systems until he eventually fell in love with Xbox. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not hunting for Xbox achievements, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online or fighting for survival in Battlefield.