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The Studio Behind Planet Coaster and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Is Making a Disney Game, and Frontier Is Paying for It Itself
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The Studio Behind Planet Coaster and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Is Making a Disney Game, and Frontier Is Paying for It Itself

Michael Travels
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The studio that made Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is making a Disney game. Frontier Developments announced the collaboration on Thursday, and one line in the release is not about Disney at all. It is about who is paying.

Frontier says the game "will be fully funded by Frontier and will build upon the Company's extensive experience and proven capabilities as a leader in the Creative Management Simulation (CMS) genre; which includes the genre-leading Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, and Jurassic World Evolution franchises, as well as an unannounced Planet game currently in development."

Frontier's announcement says the company "has entered into an agreement with Disney to develop and publish a new game which will draw on Disney's iconic portfolio of IP." That reads as a licensing arrangement rather than a work-for-hire contract, and it matches how Frontier's games page separates its own IP titles from the licensed IP titles it builds for other rights holders. Disney is lending the intellectual property. Frontier is carrying the development cost and publishing the result itself.

Planet Coaster key art showing a coaster train mid-drop with riders, a Ferris wheel, a swing tower ride and a castle turret across a mountain valley theme park.
Planet Coaster key art. Frontier's press release names Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution as the relevant experience for the Disney project. Image: Frontier Developments

Almost nothing else was announced

There is no title. There is no named Disney franchise. There are no platforms and no release window. Frontier did not say whether the game is set in the theme parks, in the film catalog, or somewhere else entirely.

Jo Cooke, Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Developments, framed the deal around the studio's existing lane rather than any specific Disney property. "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," Cooke said.

Cooke continued: "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."

The genre signal: Frontier described its credentials entirely in terms of creative management simulation, the build-and-manage genre behind its park and zoo titles. The release names Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution. It does not mention Elite Dangerous, F1 Manager, or its Warhammer titles. Frontier stopped short of calling this a park builder, but it did not reach for any of its other genres either.

Frontier has built a Disney game before

Disneyland Adventures key art showing Sleeping Beauty Castle lit from within, ringed by translucent blue artwork of Mickey, Donald and Goofy, Peter Pan characters and a bobsled on the Matterhorn.
Key art for Disneyland Adventures, the 2011 Kinect title Frontier made with Microsoft Studios and Disney. Image: Frontier Developments

This is not the studio's first Disney assignment. Frontier's own company history lists Disneyland Adventures with a release date of 2011, and describes it as a collaboration with Microsoft Studios and Disney that "delivers a highly accurate re-creation of Disneyland in Anaheim, offering full open-world exploration." Frontier calls it "one of the largest games ever published by Microsoft Studios."

That was a motion-controlled game about visiting a Disney park. It was not a game about building one.

Why theme park fans noticed immediately

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 gameplay showing a red and yellow coaster train cresting a drop full of riders, with park guests on winding paths, trimmed hedges and a carousel.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, which Frontier developed with publisher Atari and released in 2004. Image: Frontier Developments

Frontier's history page gives RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 a release date of 2004 and says that in November of that year the studio and publisher Atari "brought the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise into dynamic 3D." Frontier went on to make Planet Coaster, Planet Coaster 2, Planet Zoo and Planet Zoo: Console Edition. Park and zoo builders have run through the company's catalog ever since.

So a Disney license landing at this particular studio invites one obvious guess. WDW News Today headlined its story by asking whether a Disney parks tycoon game is finally happening. Blog Mickey noted that Frontier has not confirmed any gameplay direction, and pointed to Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo as the nearest reference points. Neither Frontier nor Disney has said the game is a park builder, and Disney has not issued a statement of its own about the deal.

The other detail in the release

Frontier's list of credentials includes "an unannounced Planet game currently in development." Frontier's own games page separately lists Planet Zoo 2 under Coming soon, which makes Planet Zoo 2 an announced game. Read together, the two pages point to a further Planet title that Frontier has not revealed, sitting alongside both Planet Zoo 2 and the new Disney project. Frontier did not spell that out, and it did not say which of the three arrives first.

Sources

Image credits: Planet Coaster key art, Disneyland Adventures key art and a RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 gameplay image courtesy of Frontier Developments.

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