Autumn 2024 DLC Speculation

[RightWhale]

Zoo keepers collection sounds like a fine name to me.
Now do we know for sure that the latest jwe2 is the final? While the name and variety sound like a miscellaneous dlc with no obvious theme, does that mean it’s the last?
At this rate I’d be disappointed if this incoming dlc doesn’t give us more then 7+1 due to our lack of dlcs.

I mean we don’t know for sure, but I think with the dlc giving a lot of the most highly requested animals it’s a sign that it was the last. Like if this next dlc has a ton of monkeys and birds I wouldn’t expect another one.

Also a new JW movie is coming out, which usually means another game is gonna follow it.

 

[synthetase]

Here's a finale pack I would like that follows the meta wishlist closely enough...

Hamadryas Baboon
Grey-crowned Crane
Honey Badger
Blackbuck
Musk Ox
Black Howler Monkey
Great White Pelican
Spectacled Bear
Patagonian Mara
Greater Rhea
White-nosed Coati
Pallas' Cat
Panther Chameleon (E)

oddballs finale pack (8 habitat animals!):
Aye-Aye
Sulawesi Bear Cuscus
Brazilian Porcupine
Japanese Serow
Tayra
African Civet
Aardwolf
Numbat

Unpopular opinion: the oddball pack would make me much happier than the Meta wishlist pack. This roster, although probably meant as a joke, would be a top 5 pack of all time for me. As a finale pack its horrible though. Yet, I like that it gives some less wished for animals a chance.
So,
Synthetase Mixture of Oddballs and Community Favorites Pack
Hamadryas Baboon
Grey crowned Crane
Blackbuck
Musk Ox
Black Howler Monkey
American White Pelican
Patagonian Mara
Greater Rhea
Pallas' Cat
Japanese Serow
Aardwolf
Brazilian Porcupine
Panther Chameleon (E)

I personally hope for a few oddballs depending on the finale pack size.
My oddball wishlist that is still realistic (i.e. still within the top 100 of the meta)

Raccoon Dog
Mandarin Duck (it should be on top nowadays though)
Wapiti
Kirk's Dik Dik
Guineafowl
Bush Dog
Virginia Opossum
North American Porcupine
American Flamingo
Aardwolf

 

[MarikMoon]

Well if Frontier really skipped summer dlc we could assume that fall dlc might be larger than usual animal packs, at least 12 and at most 16 animals?

 

[Captain Callum]

Well if Frontier really skipped summer dlc we could assume that fall dlc might be larger than usual animal packs, at least 12 and at most 16 animals?

Hopefully it is but I'm still expecting a normal sized animal pack in the case that the planet coaster 2 release or anything else affected the normal development schedule.

 

[RightWhale]

Well if Frontier really skipped summer dlc we could assume that fall dlc might be larger than usual animal packs, at least 12 and at most 16 animals?

I certainly hope so! But we don’t know and nothing is proven until it happens.

Hopefully it is but I'm still expecting a normal sized animal pack in the case that the planet coaster 2 release or anything else affected the normal development schedule.

Oh goodness I didn’t even consider that, I guess we just have to hope they didn’t condense the teams or move too many people away from PZ. Maybe the reason this pack is taking longer is not due to it being bigger but due to the team being smaller?

My hope is that it is a “bigger” pack, even if that means it’s bigger in how grasslands is bigger. If we get 5 exhibit species that’s fine by me. Or maybe they just double up animals in the pack? Like we get two tamarins but they only differ in looks, or two ducks that are also the same.

 

[synthetase]

Like we get two tamarins but they only differ in looks, or two ducks that are also the same.

Golden-lion Tamarin + Cotton top
Mandarin Duck + Common Eider and/or White-faced Whistling

 

[synthetase]

I would also hope to see a few clones as extras: American Flamingo, Masai Giraffe, Sumatran Tiger are my most hoped for.

 

[RightWhale]

I would also hope to see a few clones as extras: American Flamingo, Masai Giraffe, Sumatran Tiger are my most hoped for.

Honestly give us the regular 8 animals, and if a bonus 5 are improved clones I wouldn’t complain:

1. Sumatran tiger
2. Masai giraffe
3. Eurasian brown bear
4. American flamingo
5. African spurred tortoise

 

[synthetase]

Honestly give us the regular 8 animals, and if a bonus 5 are improved clones I wouldn’t complain:

1. Sumatran tiger
2. Masai giraffe
3. Eurasian brown bear
4. American flamingo
5. African spurred tortoise

What would be your eight regular???
mine would be: Patagonian Mara, Black Howler Monkey, Blackbuck, Greater Rhea, Golden-lion Tamarin, and Grey-crowned Crane with Panther Chameleon and Two-toed Sloth as the exhibits.

 

[AndyZoos]

Zoo keepers collection sounds like a fine name to me.
Now do we know for sure that the latest jwe2 is the final? While the name and variety sound like a miscellaneous dlc with no obvious theme, does that mean it’s the last?
At this rate I’d be disappointed if this incoming dlc doesn’t give us more then 7+1 due to our lack of dlcs.

We don't know for sure but we can look at the available evidence and make a fair assumption that development of JWE2 is done:

• New Jurassic World CMS game confirmed for FY26 (i.e., sometime between June 2025 and May 2026)
• SteamDB hasn't been updated at all since the release of the last pack
• The name/theme of the final pack and the species roster feels like a closer

Oh goodness I didn’t even consider that, I guess we just have to hope they didn’t condense the teams or move too many people away from PZ. Maybe the reason this pack is taking longer is not due to it being bigger but due to the team being smaller?

My hope is that it is a “bigger” pack, even if that means it’s bigger in how grasslands is bigger. If we get 5 exhibit species that’s fine by me. Or maybe they just double up animals in the pack? Like we get two tamarins but they only differ in looks, or two ducks that are also the same.

I am really hoping the additional time means we get a larger pack. It's probably got something to do with a slightly smaller team but... I think it's enough time that additional species wouldn't be unreasonable. Especially when you consider that the Barnyard pack was relatively "simple."

I've said it before but we can still get a larger-sized "final" pack and the output for the overall year would still be smaller than usual if we only get the two packs.

 

[RightWhale]

What would be your eight regular???
mine would be: Patagonian Mara, Black Howler Monkey, Blackbuck, Greater Rhea, Golden-lion Tamarin, and Grey-crowned Crane with Panther Chameleon and Two-toed Sloth as the exhibits.

I mean probably the regular stuff we always talk about, I’m basic like that.

1. Black Howler Monkey
2. White nosed coati
3. Patagonian mara
4. Greater Rhea
5. Great White pelican
6. A duck
7. Blackbuck/ Musk Ox/ Peere David’s deer
8. Exhibit: Chameleon/ King Cobra

Then add on the 5 “clones”

1. Sumatran Tiger
2. Eurasian brown bear
3. Masai giraffe
4. American flamingo
5. African spurred tortoise

13 animals, a number of clones, some top meta wishlisters. Not bad overall IMO.

 

[Captain Callum]

The main concern with a larger final pack is how jwe2 got a normal sized pack yet titled a collection pack. Personally I don't want to get my hopes up with a 12+ animal pack just to get another ungulates around the world style dlc.

 

[RightWhale]

The main concern with a larger final pack is how jwe2 got a normal sized pack yet titled a collection pack. Personally I don't want to get my hopes up with a 12+ animal pack just to get another ungulates around the world style dlc.

That’s certainly a possibility, the only thing I can say is that Frontier has always treated Planet Zoo a bit differently. I don’t think JWE ever got more than 4 new animals at a time? Likewise PZ is their own flagship game, and their own original IP.

My best guess, is maybe we get something like Grasslands. Maybe we finally get birds in the WTE, but it’s like 5 different parrots.

Though while I am a bit in the camp of this pack can be bigger, I agree it’s probably unwise to hype it up too much.

 

[Marvinb]

The idea of a set of 5 i think only really did work for the butterflies since they are essentially just 2d images for the most part, and dont really have to many complex animations. So its not really comparable to 5 different parrots i that regard.
If we by some miracle get something like this id guess it like 2 species, something like the scarlet + blue and gold macaw, two animals that pretty much are color swaps with some very minor changes in the model

 

[PlanetZooLover]

The idea of a set of 5 i think only really did work for the butterflies since they are essentially just 2d images for the most part, and dont really have to many complex animations. So its not really comparable to 5 different parrots i that regard.
If we by some miracle get something like this id guess it like 2 species, something like the scarlet + blue and gold macaw, two animals that pretty much are color swaps with some very minor changes in the model

They dont need to add flying animations, just perching animations. They sometimes fly but mostly just perch.

 

[PlanetZooLover]

I went to Xcaret, and some trained birds were amazing. It was an amazing park/eco-logical zoo and the macaws were my favorite. I liked the way they did it with bringings log and allowing macaws to have food and supplies without flying.

 

[Captain Callum]

I went to Xcaret, and some trained birds were amazing. It was an amazing park/eco-logical zoo and the macaws were my favorite. I liked the way they did it with bringings log and allowing macaws to have food and supplies without flying. View attachment 398583

We have a dedicated zoo visits thread if you want to share more about places like these.

Your zoo visits

I stopped by the Richmond Zoo recently. -snip- Oh no, do they not have markhor anymore? I was considering stopping by on my way to DC for a weekend this fall, but the list you posted pales in comparison to how star-studded I remember it looking, particularly for ungulates. Maybe it's just...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[RightWhale]

The idea of a set of 5 i think only really did work for the butterflies since they are essentially just 2d images for the most part, and dont really have to many complex animations. So its not really comparable to 5 different parrots i that regard.
If we by some miracle get something like this id guess it like 2 species, something like the scarlet + blue and gold macaw, two animals that pretty much are color swaps with some very minor changes in the model

Maybe we will get 5 more butterflies!

TBH I hope this final dlc does something with the WTE:

• Could be another sloth
• A new bat
• More butterflies/ moths
• Maybe some other small animal????

Or maybe, if Frontier decides “the time is now” and we are lucky and blessed

• We get bird(s)

As of the time being the WTE feels both like an abandoned idea (seems to have been built for birds but nope) and one not worth using much. It needs just a bit more animals/ another animal type. Doesn’t have to be birds, but that would be the best option.

 

[Aramar]

TBH I hope this final dlc does something with the WTE:

• Could be another sloth
• A new bat
• More butterflies/ moths
• Maybe some other small animal????

I want the contrary, I think the WTE already cover all the possibilities, so I prefer they stick to the normal exhibit boxes. I really want more a chameleon, cobra, basilisk or gecko over a second sloth, third bat or sixth butterfly.

 

[Marvinb]

I want the contrary, I think the WTE already cover all the possibilities, so I prefer they stick to the normal exhibit boxes. I really want more a chameleon, cobra, basilisk or gecko over a second sloth, third bat or sixth butterfly.

Yeah i second this. Unless its something new in the WE i want a normal exhibit to be honest