Graveyard Keeper 2 Release Date

The developers announced the date themselves on August 26, 2026, with the line "Graveyard Keeper 2 is launching…on September 22!"

Steam's own store data lists the release date as Sep 22, 2026, and the game is still flagged as coming soon until that day.

The PlayStation Store listing specifies an unlock moment of September 22, 2026 at 05:00 PM UTC, which is the most precise timing any storefront gives.

There is no staggered rollout. Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 all get the game on September 22.

Nintendo's US store lists the Switch 2 edition as a digital purchase, with no physical release announced there.

The game is developed by Lazy Bear Games and published by tinyBuild, the same pairing behind the 2018 original.

The list price is $24.99. During pre-orders it is discounted 20% to $19.99, which is the price Steam's own API reports.

Pre-ordering unlocks two items: a Sauna building placed near your house, and an exclusive outfit for the Grand Inquisitor.

The developers note that the outfit you receive depends on which platform you pre-ordered on, so the reward is not identical everywhere. PlayStation Plus members were additionally offered a further discount on the PS Store.

A free demo went live on September 14, 2026, eight days before launch, on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.

It covers around 3–4 hours, from your first steps to the introduction of The Town, and includes crafting, scavenging, grave digging and decorating, plus a first taste of leading an army.

Crucially, the demo save carries over: the developers confirmed your demo save file continues in the full game when it launches on September 22.

This is a full release, not an early access build. The Steam page carries no Early Access label and sells at the full premium price.

The feature list is single-player, with Steam Achievements, full controller support, Steam Cloud and Family Sharing. There is no multiplayer mode.

Eleven languages are supported for interface and subtitles — English, French, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese and Turkish — with full audio in English only.

The demo stops right as The Town is introduced. The full game is where the city gets reclaimed district by district and rebuilt into a working economy.

Launch also opens the combat layer properly: weekly street battles, sewers that stay open the rest of the week, barricades, towers and armed zombie squads.

The developers describe the release as the result of a testing, fixing and polishing pass, and say they intend to keep improving and expanding the game after launch based on player feedback.

Lazy Bear Games develops, tinyBuild publishes — the same pairing responsible for the 2018 original.

The sequel was announced on April 9, 2026 with a trailer from tinyBuild, roughly five months before release.

Interest built quickly: the game reached 400,000 Steam wishlists within a week of announcement and later passed 450,000.

The developers also ran a devlog series through the year covering the world, The Town, zombies, visuals and combat.

Launch day opens the content the demo stops short of, starting with The Town itself.

That includes reclaiming districts in weekly battles and then rebuilding them into working shops, cafés and housing.

It also includes the deeper automation tiers, where zombies operate machines and conveyor lines rather than single benches.

And it opens the rest of the tech tree, which is why some materials cannot be crafted in the demo at all.

Pick your platform before you play the demo, because demo saves only continue within the same ecosystem.

Decide whether the pre-order discount matters to you: $19.99 instead of $24.99, plus the Sauna building and outfit.

If you care about the outfit specifically, note that it differs depending on where you pre-order.

There is no season pass, deluxe tier or code to redeem announced — the bonuses attach to the purchase automatically.

The September 14 date belongs to the free demo, not the game, and the two are separate downloads.

The game is not launching into Early Access, so September 22 is the full release rather than the start of one.

Nintendo's US store lists the Switch 2 edition as digital, with no physical edition announced.

Anything claiming a different date, a staggered platform rollout or a delay is not supported by the developers' own announcements.

Critical coverage arrived ahead of release and landed at a Metascore of 71 across seven reviews.

Opinion split fairly evenly, with DualShockers at 85 calling it a fantastic sequel and The Wand Report at 40 finding it laborious.

Middle-ground reviews credited the charm and dark humour while noting that micromanagement can wear.

The demo, meanwhile, sat at 88% positive from 526 Steam reviews in the same week.

Install the free demo now and play it on the platform you intend to buy, since the save only continues there.

Use that time on compounding work: clear yard junk, build the Wooden Anvil, and secure your first zombie workers from the Plague Doctor.

Decide on pre-ordering before launch day if the discount and bonuses matter to you.

Then expect the rest of the game — The Town, the full tech tree and the battle loop — to open on September 22.