The game was supported with free as well as paid post-release downloadable content upon launch. Frontier organised multiple alpha and beta tests before launching the game in November 2016. Planet Coaster is Frontier's second self-published franchise, following Elite Dangerous. Originally called Coaster Park Tycoon, the game was revealed on 29 January 2015 and was renamed during E3 2015.

The Scenario Mode, which was added in the 1.4.0 update on 22 November 2017, is similar to career mode, but allow player customise their own task in all saved parks. The challenge mode is similar to the sandbox mode, but with added difficulty, as players need to take funds into account. In Sandbox mode, players are tasked to construct their own theme park on an empty plot of land. In the career mode, players assume the role of a theme park manager and must complete tasks such as constructing unfinished roller coasters or hiring janitors. There are four different modes in the game, namely Sandbox, Challenge, Career, and Scenario Editor. A macOS version, developed by Aspyr, was later released on 17 November 2020 on both Steam and Mac App Store. The PlayStation 5 version was released in North America and Australia on 12 November 2020 and in Europe on 19 November 2020. A version for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, known as Planet Coaster: Console Edition, was released worldwide on 10 November 2020. Frontier had previously worked in the amusement park construction and management genre with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (to which Planet Coaster is a spiritual successor), Thrillville, Thrillville: Off the Rails, and Zoo Tycoon. It was released worldwide on 17 November 2016. Planet Coaster is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments for Windows.

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