RollerCoaster Tycoon is a franchise whose greatest competition has always been its own past. The original 1999 game and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 built an unusually durable formula — build rides, manage staff and prices, research attractions, and occasionally discover your creation has become a mechanical death trap — and more than 25 years later, people are still playing them. Now Atari is trying again. Revealed during Gamescom Opening Night Live's pre-show on August 25, RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks is a new theme-park management game from Springloaded, the studio behind Let's Build a Zoo, heading to Steam Early Access this winter for $24.99 (Gematsu), followed later by a full console and PC release. GameSpot notes Atari hasn't delivered a "truly beloved" new entry in the series in a long time, and that Atari and Springloaded are deliberately using Early Access to shape the game alongside the community rather than presenting it as a finished sequel out of the gate (GameSpot).
That makes the real question bigger than whether another RollerCoaster Tycoon is coming: after years of failed modern attempts, has the franchise finally figured out that moving forward doesn't mean abandoning what made the originals fun?
