The ranching adventures of Beatrix LeBeau will continue in Slime Rancher 2, a sequel to the award-winning, smash-hit open-world spacey ranching simulator original. Announced as somewhat of a surprise sequel at E3 2021, there are still very few details about what the sequel will look like. We know we’ll be exploring an island, capturing and raising cute little slimes of all varieties, selling their plots, and just having a grand time. But how will this sequel expand on the original? Are we going to see new slimes? New tech? More lore?
Here’s everything we know about Slime Rancher 2 so far!
Further reading
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Release date
Fans expected to get an official release date at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022. Slime Rancher 2 was listed on a deck as a 2022 title, but we didn’t get anything more specific.
Platforms
Like its predecessor, Slime Rancher 2 will be released on Xbox Series X and Windows PC. And great news for console players — the game will be available on Xbox Game Pass on release day!
No other platform releases have been announced. The original game was also available on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.
Trailer
The announcement trailer released in 2021 gave us a quick glimpse of Slime Rancher 2, but no real details.
The first gameplay trailer was released in 2022 and gave viewers a look at the conservatory where most of the day-to-day ranching chores will take place, along with a bit of exploration, some hidden areas, and, of course, plenty of wild slime collecting.
Gameplay
“With a sequel, everyone gets to interpret this new art that we’ve made all at once, the conversation happens all at once. There isn’t this distance between veteran players and new players,” he added.
In an early 2022 interview with GamesRadar+, Monomi Park founder and Slime Rancher 2 game director Nick Popovich described the dequel as feeling just like the original, only “smoother, more expansive, more rich in details, and with a lot of tweaks and quality of life changes.”
“What’s most exciting is that the whole thing is a refreshing change from our original world,” he told GamesRadar+. “We very much leaned into the cowboy vibe in the first game with dusty valleys, an old mining operation, and a desert. Rainbow Island is far more green, with carpets of lush grass all over it, lots of trees, flowers, and water visible almost all the time. It just feels good to be in this world.”
New slimes
- Cotton Slime
- Flutter Slime
- Angler Slime
- Batty Slime
- Tanuki Slime
Returning slimes
- Pink Slime
- Rock Slime
- Tabby Slime
- Phosphor Slime
- Boom Slime
- Rad Slime
- Crystal Slime
- Hunter Slime
- Honey Slime
- Puddle Slime
- Quantum Slime
- Saber Slime
- Fire Slime
- Tangle Slime
- Dervish Slime
- Mosaic Slime
- Lucky Slime
- Gold Slime
- Tarr
New food
- Dodo Hen
- Water Lettuce
Returning food
- Pogofruit
- Cuberry
- Mint Mango
- Hen Hen
- Roostro
- Carrot
- Heart Beet
Multiplayer
The original Slime Rancher didn’t have any multiplayer options, and we don’t expect to see any pop up in Slime Rancher 2. In the past, the development team has been pretty adamant about Slime Rancher being a strictly unique solo experience. That being said, we’d love to see an option to send friends mail or visit other ranches as spectators. We can hope!
DLC
The first Slime Rancher game has a series of DLC packs that mostly consisted of added cosmetics for your slimes and gear. There were also several free updates for the games that added plenty of game-changing features, including drones that can be programmed to help with various tasks around the ranch, pool party fashion, and huge storage upgrades. We expect Slime Rancher 2 will get the same treatment, consistently improving through updates during its lifecycle.
When the early access release date was announced, developer Monomi Park had this to say about future updates: “Updates for Slime Rancher 2 will broadly cover three areas to varying degrees: adding more of what you already love about Slime Rancher (new areas to explore, slimes to wrangle, resources to collect, and gadgets to build), completing the story of Slime Rancher 2 and learning more about the secrets of Rainbow Island, and finally, expanding the potential of Slime Rancher’s established gameplay by adding new features not yet seen in Slime Rancher.”
Pre-order
Slime Rancher 2 will not be available for pre-order because of the early access period.
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