Huge 95% reduction gives nostalgic sim a new lease on life

A massive Steam sale has given a nostalgic sim a new lease of life, with a 95 percent off sale leading to player numbers not seen in eight years.

Frontier Developments’ Planet Coaster, initially released in November 2016, is surging up the player charts after the Steam sale.

The sale, running until May 30, gives players the chance to pick up the base game of Planet Coaster for just $2.24—and you can get the Subscription Pass providing all 11 DLCs for an additional $4.99.

Those deals have certainly paid off for Planet Coaster, which boasts a 24-hour peak of over 17,000 players, according to SteamDB—numbers the title hasn’t seen since its launch week eight years ago.

Prior to this, SteamDB data shows Planet Coaster did not have a player count of over 10,000 in a single month since November 2016—and the latest surge is just shy of the 21,000-player all-time peak the game enjoyed when it initially launched.

Planet Coaster is the perfect game for nostalgic sim fans. It’s a modern-day version of the Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise we all knew and loved as kids, further showcasing Frontier’s expertise in crafting excellent simulation games.

Since Planet Coaster released, Frontier has developed Jurassic World Evolution and its sequel, with a third title in the series confirmed for 2026, as well as Planet Zoo—which released on consoles earlier this year.

Speculation of a sequel to Planet Coaster has been rife among the game’s community for a while, particularly with Frontier approaching the end of Planet Zoo’s lifecycle and beginning to focus on new projects.

The revival of Planet Coaster on Steam certainly shows there is an appetite for a sequel, but it remains to be seen what Frontier has up its sleeve and whether sequels are on the horizon, or whether it’ll create a new entry under the “Planet” umbrella.