Could Planet Zoo's future be uncertain as England braces for a second lockdown?

[Danny_zoo]

I have tried staying positive in regards to this game that we all love so much, even with so much negativity going around this forum lately. Most of the negative feedback lately has been in reference to player's expectations and Frontier falling short to meet them, but nothing really official, other than no anniversary update, had been revealed. However that all can now change, since the breaking news coming out of frontier's home country could seriously impact any planned future. England is bracing for a massive lockdown that will shut most of their economy for a month, including Frontier's operations, as the team will have to work remote. Has there been any official word from Frontier as to their team ever returning back to their offices, because in my opinion this will be the deciding factor. Companies that adjusted their business operations during the first global lockdowns, and have been operating remotely/home since, have a good a chance of been unaffected by these health security measures, those who did not, and essentially did not envision a second lockdown of this length, could be in trouble. It is my sincere hope that Frontier has prepared for this, and their plans towards Planet Zoo's future suffer minimal alterations. To think that just a few days ago, the biggest worry we had in this forum was the lack of an anniversary gift/update, the news coming out of England have definitely changed that. The best of luck to them all.

 

[FoxyDee]

They have been working from home since the first lockdown and managed to release both SA pack and Australia pack, so I am positive that they know how to work remotely by now.

 

[jcp011c]

They have been working from home since the first lockdown and managed to release both SA pack and Australia pack, so I am positive that they know how to work remotely by now.

I would think so as well, granted we don't know all specifics, but given their work is digital in nature, I would think there's a better likelihood they can move forward with things. The only problem with that is if there is some kind of step or integration that absolutely requires them to physically be together , that could cause a delay, but I don't know if know such a thing would be the case at all.

 

[LN]

They have been working from home since the first lockdown and managed to release both SA pack and Australia pack, so I am positive that they know how to work remotely by now.

This. Not sure why we should be worried for anything.

I'm more worried for all the people that ignore the lockdown rules than I am for a company that creates digital products on a pc/laptop.
They might produce less content, but there'd still be content.

 

[Bearcat9948]

Just to reinforce what’s already been said, I’m pretty sure they’ve been entirely virtual since late winter/early spring. I wouldn’t think this would affect them much, if at all. Might want to say a short prayer for small restaurant or bar owners. Most of them will probably be bankrupt by the end of the year unfortunately...

 

[Danny_zoo]

Good that you all think so, and everyone is being positive about it. I always thought before that this was the case, and Frontier should not be too affected by lockdowns, since they are providing a virtual product. However, I do not know much about the video game industry, and the level of interaction required between team members for things to go smoothly. There is so much being talked about in this forum, from all angles and stances, the same people who are positive in one thread, will present obstacles and negativity in another, so it is hard to take everything in, and make sense of it. For example, there are a higher number of complaints than usual associated with the Australian DLC in reference to bugs and so on. There is a lot of negative feedback in reference to Frontier's level of interaction with players ever since the pandemic hit us, and their lead community manager exited, and the list goes on. There is also the expectation that something a little different might be coming next, so if this was the case, something bigger and different would require a little more TLC and in such case, would they want a little extra time to get everything to work properly. Who knows really, I hope that everything is on schedule, but if a delay was absolutely necessary I would definitely understand. Frontier does not release their schedule for DLCs, so there is no real way of knowing is something would be delay or not, however I think that if nothing is announced for December, then that is a safe bet on a delay. I honestly wish them the best, the team behind Planet Zoo is one of the most talented and hard working there is, so if anyone can pull it off....

 

[mikek21]

I have been working remotely since early this year. And although we are working successfully, the lack of close in-person collaboration with my co-workers does sometimes slow down the process. And I am sure the same is true for many companies, including Frontier, that are working remotely. But most of all I just hope that everyone at Frontier is safe and healthy. The UK has been hit hard by the pandemic, and the truth is we do not know how this has impacted Frontier. Are they all healthy? Have some had to take leave from their job due to illness. Have some had to deal with the loss of friends or family? We just don't know and should not assume it is business as usual for them. I am looking forward to new content just as much as everyone else. I have a very long wish list. And I know Frontier will deliver new content when they have it ready for us.

I enjoy building and designing. And playing Planet Zoo provides a nice distraction. And as others have said in other threads, we are only limited by our own creativity.

And I agree with you Danny_zoo, I honestly wish the team behind Planet Zoo the best. And I am willing to cut them some slack during a global pandemic.

 

[Casperite]

The uncertainty of this game's future is nothing to do with Covid but their crap PR practices. Hell, even today their twitter announcement about this weeks challenge is wrong information. Their ONLY communication with us is demonstrably false. If that doesn't hammer home the point that many here have tried making about their horrid communication then nothing will. Worry about that, not a lockdown. They do fine in lockdown and I will assume as much since they never once announced any delay due to Covid.

 

[Danny_zoo]

The uncertainty of this game's future is nothing to do with Covid but their crap PR practices. Hell, even today their twitter announcement about this weeks challenge is wrong information. Their ONLY communication with us is demonstrably false. If that doesn't hammer home the point that many here have tried making about their horrid communication then nothing will. Worry about that, not a lockdown. They do fine in lockdown and I will assume as much since they never once announced any delay due to Covid.

The thing with that statement is that it does not leave much room for dialogue, I understand your frustrations I truly do, but that is really a community manager issue, and does not really reflect by all accounts on content being released. Right now the community managers are holding all the cards, since they are the liaison between the game's content creators and we the community. If we continue hammering the point of bad communication to them and attacking the only link we currently have to this game, nothing good will come out of it. I'm not saying you are wrong for feeling the way you do, but we have to communicate our frustrations in a different way, and create at least some sort of dialogue where our concerns and wishes are heard and taken into consideration.

It is clear that ideally we would have someone that is passionate about zoos and all that they encompass within the Frontier PR department, but the more that I learn about this video game industry, the more I understand that sadly that might not ever be the case. The majority of the community managers based on their social media accounts (someone pointed this out to me) gave no indication of ever caring about animals or zoos before this game. I kind of understand it, because I have been with the zoo planning and design industry for decades, and if someone within the company I worked for came and told me that we were designing a race track and I needed to become passionate about car racing, I honestly would have to decline. But if I had no choice, since my position required me to give this particular idea equal dedication, since it has become extremely profitable for the company, and I'm still getting a paycheck I would do it, but without any real passion, exactly what we have now.

Now what we need to understand is that we are not going to turn any of this people onto zoo die hard fans if they are not already, but we need to respectfully get them to carry our ideas and concerns to the people that do care, the incredible designing team behind this game. We can not get this accomplish if we are constantly attacking them, and forcing them in the defensive.

 

[Casperite]

The thing with that statement is that it does not leave much room for dialogue, I understand your frustrations I truly do, but that is really a community manager issue, and does not really reflect by all accounts on content being released. Right now the community managers are holding all the cards, since they are the liaison between the game's content creators and we the community. If we continue hammering the point of bad communication to them and attacking the only link we currently have to this game, nothing good will come out of it. I'm not saying you are wrong for feeling the way you do, but we have to communicate our frustrations in a different way, and create at least some sort of dialogue where our concerns and wishes are heard and taken into consideration.

It is clear that ideally we would have someone that is passionate about zoos and all that they encompass within the Frontier PR department, but the more that I learn about this video game industry, the more I understand that sadly that might not ever be the case. The majority of the community managers based on their social media accounts (someone pointed this out to me) gave no indication of ever caring about animals or zoos before this game. I kind of understand it, because I have been with the zoo planning and design industry for decades, and if someone within the company I worked for came and told me that we were designing a race track and I needed to become passionate about car racing, I honestly would have to decline. But if I had no choice, since my position required me to give this particular idea equal dedication, since it has become extremely profitable for the company, and I'm still getting a paycheck I would do it, but without any real passion, exactly what we have now.

Now what we need to understand is that we are not going to turn any of this people onto zoo die hard fans if they are not already, but we need to respectfully get them to carry our ideas and concerns to the people that do care, the incredible designing team behind this game. We can not get this accomplish if we are constantly attacking them, and forcing them in the defensive.

So basically do not speak up if you are unhappy, maybe then they will start communicating better? I disagree, I believe they need to know that people are not happy with them, otherwise things will definitely stay the same.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Hi everyone,

We’d like to take a moment to update you all on what’s happening at Frontier with regards to COVID-19, and what you can expect from us in the foreseeable future.

In order to safeguard the health and safety of all Frontier employees, we are implementing a work from home policy across the studio.

Frontier’s games and channels bring joy to the community, and we are all united in our love of these fantastic worlds and the positive impact they produce; this is why we are working hard to avoid any disruption and will do our very best to keep you updated and entertained throughout this challenging time.

Our games will continue to be supported (including online functionality), and at the moment we do not anticipate any major changes to our plans across all titles. However, with the situation changing daily, we will keep you informed and appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to bring the best gaming experiences to our players. Our Communications team will continue to be active across our channels, including forums, Reddit, Discord, and social media; our Customer Support team will continue to offer help and support through our dedicated support channels, and game teams will continue their work on future updates and releases.

As an added precaution, we are restricting work-related travel for the time being, which means we are not attending any events at the current time.

Our hearts and minds are with you and your family; we will continue to monitor the global situation and will adjust our operations as necessary, and keep you posted.
Please stay safe and healthy, and thank you for your ongoing patience and support.

Take care,

The Frontier team

This statement was posted during the first lock down. Officially nothing changed. Officially nothing was delayed. Officially the Planet Zoo future is exactly as planned.

Do I believe it fully? No. But if what we got was the planned future, it was not the one this game deserves nor the one that I was hoping for. I totally understand that feedback for bigger dlcs take time to be implemented and I was always the one saying, that this year is already set in stone and we won't see major feedback regarding the DLCs implementened before 2021.

With the lack of engagement for the anniversary, I currently do not see any improvement of the future, leaving the further development of this game I love so much pretty shallow and not meaningful. In regards to the second lock down and an eventual DLC for the holiday time I can say, that we don't have any clues of a DLC in the steam database at the moment. Considering there were signs of the australia DLC loooong before it was released, I'll stay pessimistic. Business wise it would not be too good to miss out on the oppurtunity that is christmas, but they got the JWE switch release and the Planco console release, so why even take a look at "Plancos byproduct".

If Frontier proofs me wrong in the future of the game, the resources put into it, their future engagement and / or any new dlc this year, I'll be just the happiest person in the community and be willing to apologize for not being the fangirl I used to be. Until then I'll be just that customer that is raising her eyebrow with the decisions made.