Planet Zoo 2 maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, October 15, 2026, at around 06:00 UTC, or 08:00 in mainland France. Online features, including Franchise mode and the Workshop, will be unavailable during the work, the team announced in its October 14 post.
The interruption is expected to last about an hour. Players planning a Franchise session or a visit to the Workshop that morning should allow for the downtime. Both the start time and duration are estimates, so they should not be treated as a fixed window with a guaranteed restoration time. The announcement concerns online features and does not establish that every game mode will be unavailable.
Franchise changes ahead of the downtime
The team says it has already made changes behind the scenes to address Franchise stability and species availability in Animal Trading. Those changes precede the scheduled maintenance; they are not fixes players must wait until October 15 to receive.
The announcement does not quantify the effect of these changes. For Franchise players, the practical distinction is between work already carried out and the upcoming interruption, during which the mode will be unavailable.
October 14 fixes and another update planned for Friday
The first post-launch update was released on October 14 at 14:00 BST, or 13:00 UTC. It includes fixes concerning DLSS, FSR, keyboard shortcuts, audio distortion and stability. This update is separate from the online maintenance scheduled for the following morning.
Another update is planned for Friday, October 16, but its detailed contents have not been confirmed. The team is still investigating animal climbing, escapes and the use of enrichment items. Those investigations remain ongoing, so Friday's planned update should not be read as a promise that these behaviours will be fixed by then.
Career and Franchise accreditation progress separately
The same announcement clarifies an existing progression rule: Career progress does not advance Franchise accreditation. Accreditation is independent for each mode, rather than a shared tier carried between them.
In Career, accreditation increases through medals earned in scenario zoos and Wildlife Reserves. In Franchise, it depends on zoos with a high Zoo Reputation and Wildlife Reserves with a high Biodiversity Rating. Players seeking to advance their Franchise accreditation therefore need to focus on those results within Franchise, even if they have already progressed in Career.
For October 15, plan Franchise and Workshop activity around the estimated service interruption, allowing for uncertainty over when access will return. Friday's planned update is a separate announcement, with its contents still to be confirmed.
See also our Planet Zoo 2 game page.
