Frontier Developments developed and published Planet Coaster, a construction and management simulation computer game for Microsoft Windows. It released on Windows on November 17, 2016….
Planet Coaster
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Frontier Developments is a British video game developer and publisher founded in January 1994 by David Braben, co-creator of the original Elite, and headquartered at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. The studio built its reputation across simulation and management games including Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, and Jurassic World Evolution, and is publicly listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange. Jo Cooke became CEO in December 2025, following a difficult period that included significant layoffs in 2023 and the closure of its Frontier Foundry publishing label.
David Braben co-created the original Elite in 1984 with Ian Bell, one of the most influential games ever made and a foundation of the open-world space exploration genre. Frontier Developments takes its name from Braben’s later Elite sequels, Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters. Elite Dangerous, the studio’s modern successor to that legacy, launched in December 2014 following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012. It offered an astronomically scaled Milky Way galaxy with millions of star systems, open-ended trading, combat, and exploration, and continued to receive expansions including Horizons, Beyond, and Odyssey through the following years. Braben stepped down as CEO in August 2022 to become President and Founder, with Jonny Watts taking over before Cooke assumed the role in December 2025.
Planet Coaster released in November 2016 and became the spiritual successor to the beloved RollerCoaster Tycoon series, offering deep park construction and management with extensive creative tools. It sold over one million copies in its first year and established Frontier as the leading studio in the theme park simulation genre. Planet Zoo followed in November 2019, applying the same construction depth to wildlife conservation and zoo management with a focus on animal welfare mechanics and habitat design. Both games received extensive DLC support and remain commercially active. Planet Coaster 2 released in November 2024, adding water parks and significantly expanded management systems.
Frontier developed Jurassic World Evolution in 2018 and Jurassic World Evolution 2 in 2021, dinosaur park management games published under license from Universal. Both received strong reviews and built a dedicated audience, with Evolution 2 receiving ongoing DLC support. The studio also developed the F1 Manager series starting with F1 Manager 2022, licensed annual management simulations of the Formula 1 season.
Frontier launched its Frontier Foundry publishing label in 2019 to publish third-party games, releasing titles including Stranded: Alien Dawn, Deliver Us Mars, and Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters. In June 2023, Frontier announced it would not continue as a publisher under Frontier Foundry going forward, citing financial underperformance. The F1 Manager 2022 launch fell significantly short of sales expectations, and Frontier’s stock price fell over 80% during 2023. In October 2023, Frontier announced layoffs as part of an organizational review, citing disappointing financial performance and more challenging industry conditions, with a goal of reducing annual operating costs by up to 20%. Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, released in November 2023, underperformed commercially and triggered a nearly 20% drop in Frontier’s share price. The studio has since refocused on its core simulation and management strengths.
Frontier Developments developed and published Planet Coaster, a construction and management simulation computer game for Microsoft Windows. It released on Windows on November 17, 2016….