It’s been a long time since video game tie-ins arrived alongside every summer blockbuster, but the biggest franchises still want to cash in on that synergy. Case and point, the June 10 release of Jurassic World Dominion comes alongside announcements for two interactive experiences that John Hammond might be proud of: an expansion to an existing game and a mobile spin-off.
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Players of Jurassic World Evolution 2 on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 can jump back into the strategic park builder on June 14 to play the Dominion Biosyn expansion. The paid DLC includes a new campaign experience with new characters to chat up and a collection of new dinosaurs (Therizinosaurus, Pyroraptor, Dimetrodon, and Quetzalcoatlus) to place into suspiciously escapable enclosures. Several of the new species are feathered, an addition inspired by Dominion directly, and there are also skins for the T. rex, Dilophosaurus, and Parasaurolophus and a Dreadnoughtus variant of the Giganotosaurus. There’s even another Chaos Theory scenario that emulates a scene from the upcoming film set in a “Sierra Nevada environment.”
Players can uncover these new dinosaurs and variants of existing species if they choose to expand their base game for $19.99. There’s also a free update to the base game that releases as part of the DLC launch, adding new challenge mode maps, improvements to transporting dinosaurs, and other upgrades.
Jurassic World Primal Ops was also revealed as a part of this announcement and is a top-down collection-based mobile game that’s set to hit iOS and Android devices later this year. Taking place in a world where dinosaurs freely roam Earth, players take the role of highly trained handlers trying to rescue the creatures from mercenaries, poachers, and other ne’er-do-wells. Gameplay involves action-packed missions filled with problems that only specific dino companions can overcome, creating a loop of collection and completion that’s more apt for phones.
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The Jurassic World era of the dinosaur franchise has been active in the gaming space. Besides these two titles, there has been a Lego spin-off, a mobile exploration game that plays like Pokémon Go, and a survival-based virtual reality experience. When a franchise has the entire prehistory of humans at their disposal, it’s simple to come up with cool creatures that can back up a game, and fans of the films have no shortage of dinosaur theme park fun at their fingertips.