Planet Zoo reveals pre-order beta dates

Players who pre-order the Deluxe Edition of Frontier Developments' upcoming Planet Zoo will get a chance to try it out early. The studio announced the beta and unveiled a new trailer at Gamescom this week.

The early access beta will be available exclusively as a pre-order bonus for the Deluxe Edition, and it's set to run from September 24 to October 8. During that time, players will be able to try out the first Career Mode campaign scenario, and use one biome in Franchise, Planet Zoo's sandbox mode. The beta will provide access to "a selection" of animals from the full game, which Frontier says includes several animals that haven't been revealed to the public yet.

Franchise Mode also lets players hop online to trade animals with other players in order to increase the genetic diversity of their zoos, which is a compelling touch. Once the game launches in November, Franchise Mode will also include daily challenges and community goals, so there's even more incentive to cooperate with other players in store.

The update did not include any information about how to feed guests to the hippopotamuses, but those are details that I'm sure will come in due course.

Planet Zoo launches on Steam November 5.