Key Highlights:
- RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks will enter Steam Early Access in winter 2026 for $24.99/€24.99, with Springloaded developing the new Atari-published game.
- Early Access begins with more than 60 rides, coasters and shops, over 150 decorative objects, and two parks including returning original RollerCoaster Tycoon scenario Forest Frontiers.
- Springloaded expects Early Access to last about one year, with water rides, weather, additional parks, broader progression and a classic coaster-building mode planned before version 1.0.
Atari has revealed RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks, a new theme park management and strategy game that will enter Steam Early Access in winter 2026 for $24.99/€24.99.
Wonderworks is being developed by Springloaded, the studio behind Let’s Build a Zoo, and returns RollerCoaster Tycoon to the isometric presentation associated with the series’ earliest games. The full version is also planned for consoles, although Atari has not yet announced specific console platforms or a release date for version 1.0.
The first Early Access build will contain two parks: the derelict Hollow Creek and Forest Frontiers. Forest Frontiers is a returning location rather than simply a similarly named new park. It was the first playable scenario in Chris Sawyer’s original RollerCoaster Tycoon, where players started with an empty forest and had to build a park capable of attracting 250 guests while maintaining a rating of at least 600.
Its inclusion makes Springloaded’s stated desire to combine modern systems with the original games more tangible. Wonderworks is not only replicating their perspective and management structure, but directly revisiting one of the places where the series began.
The Early Access version will launch with more than 60 rides, roller coasters and shops alongside over 150 decorative objects. Players can buy additional land, research new ride designs, terraform parks and manage guest needs alongside janitors, mechanics and mascots. Staff can also be assigned to zones to improve their efficiency.
Ride management goes beyond construction. Attractions can be placed, customised, upgraded, tested and maintained, while deterioration creates another variable for players to control. Heat maps and park statistics are already part of the simulation systems planned for the initial Early Access build.
The new physics system introduces a considerably more destructive consequence for poor management.
Rides can physically break apart instead of simply becoming unavailable. Guests can be thrown from attractions, surrounding areas can be damaged and serious accidents can result in injuries or deaths. Atari even describes helicopter crews being called to deal with major incidents.
Players can deliberately push attractions beyond conventional settings as well. Ride parameters include speed, acceleration and duration, with Atari giving examples such as increasing a Ferris wheel to extreme speeds or making a Pirate Ship rotate through a complete 360 degrees.
I think the physical destruction matters more than the change in art style because it turns mechanical failure into a park-wide simulation event rather than the traditional inconvenience of sending a mechanic to repair a closed ride.
Roller coasters are built through a new construction tool designed to make tracks easier to create, adjust and preview. Springloaded also intends to add a classic builder mode during Early Access, giving players another way to construct coasters alongside the new system. Optional park gridlines are planned as part of the same quality-of-life roadmap.
The Early Access period itself is much more defined than the reveal trailer suggests.
Springloaded expects Wonderworks to remain in Early Access for about one year. Player feedback collected through Steam and Discord will influence balance changes, system adjustments and the priority given to upcoming content.
The studio estimates that unlocking all content included with the initial two-park build will take roughly six hours, although its sandbox-style park construction can continue beyond that progression point.
Springloaded already has a substantial roadmap for expanding the game.
Water and water-based rides are planned during Early Access alongside weather effects and a broader meta-progression system. Version 1.0 is also intended to introduce a proper ending and at least six additional parks with their own objectives, rides and assets.
The final version will cost more than the Early Access edition, although Atari has not announced its full retail price. The Steam release is currently listed for Windows, requires 5GB of available storage and supports eight interface and subtitle languages.
Wonderworks follows renewed activity elsewhere in the franchise. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition expanded onto PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S in March 2025, bringing Frontier’s 2004 entry to additional console platforms.
The new game represents a different step. Rather than another port or preservation release, Wonderworks is a newly developed RollerCoaster Tycoon built around the management structure of the original games while adding physical destruction, deeper ride configuration and an expandable Early Access progression system.
Atari has not announced an exact Early Access release date beyond winter 2026. Wonderworks can currently be wishlisted on Steam ahead of its launch.
