Frontier Developments, the studio behind Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, and Jurassic World Evolution, has signed a deal with Disney to build a brand new game around Disney’s intellectual property. The announcement came from Frontier itself, and it’s already got theme park fans wondering the same thing: is this the Disney park builder we’ve been waiting for?
Here’s what we actually know so far. Frontier will fund, develop, and publish the game on its own, and the studio says it will build on its track record as a leader in the Creative Management Simulation genre, the same category that includes Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo. Frontier CEO Jo Cooke said the collaboration reinforces the company’s strategy of growing “world-class creative management simulation game franchises.” Beyond that, there’s no title, no genre confirmation, no platforms, and no release window. Both Frontier and Disney are staying quiet on specifics for now.
That silence hasn’t stopped the speculation, and it’s easy to see why. Frontier has actually made a Disney game before. Back in 2011, the studio developed Kinect: Disneyland Adventures, a motion-controlled recreation of the real Disneyland Park that later got remastered without the Kinect requirement. Pair that history with a studio that has spent the last decade perfecting the art of letting players design and manage their own theme parks, and a Disney World or Disneyland construction sim starts to feel less like a fan theory and more like the obvious next move.
My honest take: I’d love for this to be a full park builder where you can recreate Cinderella Castle brick by brick, but I’m not getting ahead of it yet. Companies sign these broad “portfolio of IP” deals all the time, and they can turn into anything from a cozy Pixar adventure game to a full blown park sim. What makes this one worth watching is who signed it. Frontier doesn’t dabble in CMS games, it’s the studio’s entire business model right now, and that’s the strongest hint we have about where this is headed.
This deal also lands at an interesting moment for Disney and gaming more broadly. The company has been leaning back into the space after years away from in-house game development, including its stake in Epic Games and the recent Fortnite tie-in built around Disneyland’s 70th anniversary. A Frontier-built Disney game would be Disney’s biggest bet yet on the idea that its parks are exactly the kind of thing players want to build, not just visit.
We’ll keep watching for an official title and reveal. Keep an eye on our Gaming Hub for more info.
Planet Coaster Studio Frontier Developments Signs Deal With Disney
