Graveyard Keeper 2 is out. It launched on September 22, 2026 on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch at the same time, closing one of the shortest announce-to-launch windows of the year: five and a half months from the reveal trailer to a live game. This page is the dated record of how that went, with an official source behind every row.
The full timeline
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| April 9, 2026 | Sequel announced; the original Graveyard Keeper goes free to keep on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox until April 13 | Lazy Bear announcement, April 9 |
| May 20, 2026 | Zombie devlog: the undead workforce returns with underground factories | Steam devlog |
| June 16, 2026 | Town devlog: The Town is finally a playable place you restore district by district | Steam devlog |
| July 30, 2026 | Art devlog: the move to full 3D, dynamic shadows, weather | Steam devlog |
| August 26, 2026 | Release date set: September 22, 2026 | Lazy Bear announcement, August 26 |
| September 2, 2026 | Story devlog: same Keeper, eight years later, no more Teleportstone | Steam devlog |
| September 14, 2026 | Demo goes live on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch 2; demo saves carry over | Lazy Bear announcement |
| September 18, 2026 | Combat devlog: weekly street battles, barricades, the 4,000-zombie count | Steam devlog |
| September 22, 2026 | Launch: all platforms at once, plus a hotfix for pre-order bonus items in existing saves | Lazy Bear launch post |
| September 23, 2026 | Concurrent player peak of 54,969 on Steam (SteamDB) | SteamDB via Steam news |
| September 24, 2026 | 400,000 copies sold across platforms; Update 1.005 ships | Lazy Bear announcement |
The platform matrix behind that launch day is on the platforms page, what the launch cost on the price page, and the video record on trailers.
Five months from reveal to release
The compressed window was a deliberate shape. Between the April reveal and the August date announcement, Lazy Bear published a steady run of devlogs (zombies, The Town, art) that each showed a finished-feeling system rather than a promise, and the studio skipped Early Access entirely: the first playable public build was the September 14 demo. For comparison, the original Graveyard Keeper spent most of 2017 in early access before its August 2018 release.
Launch week went fast
The first 48 hours set records for the studio: a 54,969 concurrent-player peak on Steam the day after release, and 400,000 copies sold across all platforms by September 24, alongside an 84 percent positive Steam review rating. Update 1.005 landed the same day, fixing a batch of launch issues. Sales and player counts are point-in-time figures; the numbers here carry the date of the post that reported them.
FAQ
Is Graveyard Keeper 2 out yet?
Yes. It released on September 22, 2026 on every announced platform at once, so there is no staggered console schedule to wait for.
When was the release date announced?
August 26, 2026, about four weeks before launch. The reveal itself happened April 9, 2026.
What was the demo?
A free demo went live on September 14, 2026 on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch 2, and its save file transfers into the full game. The demo page covers the details.
Is more content coming?
Lazy Bear has written that it hopes to "continue improving and expanding the game according to your wishes" after release, but nothing specific has been announced yet. Patch 1.005 is the current version.