Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2/Update history

This page holds the dates of everything important related to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.

2015

• June 15, 2015: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is announced and is set to release in Spring 2016. A new trailer for the game is released, along with a gameplay video of new zombie classes and Graveyard Ops.
• July 8, 2015: A second trailer for the game has been released announcing the new Seeds of Time map and split-screen gameplay.
• August 5, 2015: A new gameplay video showing off plant classes and Moon Base Z is revealed. The game is demoed on Gamescom.
• August 8, 2015: In an interview with IGN, producer Kyle Duncan reveals more gameplay from the mode Herbal Assault showing plant gameplay of the three new plant classes on Moon Base Z.
• September 17, 2015: A dev diary has been released, going into detail about the new characters and strategies for each of them.
• October 29, 2015 - January 6, 2016: Short trailers showing some of the new variants of returning characters have been shown on Facebook and Twitter. The only variants seen so far (in order) is the Park Ranger, Yeti Chomper, Stuffy Flower, Zen Cactus, Roadie Z, Tennis Star, Rock Pea, Captain Flameface, Zoologist, Vampire Flower, AC Perry, Petrified Cactus, Druid Rose and Electro Brainz.
• November 5, 2015: A teaser showing gameplay for the Z7 Mech alongside a release date of February 23, 2016.
• December 9, 2015: Another new teaser showcasing the new Solo Mode, Solo Ops, new character variants (Vampire Flower, Druid Rose, Electro Citron and Pops Corn), and Crazy Settings is released.
• December 16, 2015: A gameplay reveal of the Backyard Battleground was released, showcasing the new hub and most of its features, gone over by senior creative director Jeremy Vanhoozer.

2016

• January 7, 2016: A trailer advertising the open beta for the game is released, revealing it will be available from the 14th to the 18th of January.
• January 14-18, 2016: A multiplayer beta version of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is released, letting players play in the Backyard Battleground, and lets them play Gardens & Graveyards and Herbal Assault on the Seeds of Time and Moon Base Z maps, and can also progressively play Team Vanquish, Vanquish Confirmed!, Gnome Bomb and Suburbination on the Z-Tech Factory and Frosty Creek maps. In the first two days, a few characters were made available as playable hero showcases, although they can still be unlocked. The Frozen Citron, Druid Rose, Mob Cob, Rock Pea, Yeti Chomper, Vampire Flower, Zen Cactus, Z7 Imp and Pylon imp, Cozmic Brainz, Captain Sharkbite, Scuba Soldier, Roadie Z, Computer Scientist, Zoologist and Moto-X Star were the only unlockable variants in the beta.
• January 21, 2016: A video showcases an all new variant, the Unicorn Chomper, as a bonus to players who reach rank 313. It was shown using an all new ability which is an alternate to burrow, allowing him to teleport, similar to the Scientist's Warp ability. This ability is called Rainbow Dash.
• January 29, 2016: PopCap announces a live stream of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 which featured gameplay on the PC Version and also showcased the Great White North map. The live stream started at 10:00 AM Pacific Time.
• February 5, 2016: PopCap releases another live stream of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 which features gameplay of Frost Rose on the brand new Zomburbia map for Herbal Assault.
• February 11, 2016: PopCap released a video on their Youtube channel featuring 12 new maps in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.
• February 12, 2016: PopCap releases another live stream showcasing Garden Ops and Graveyard Ops on split-screen gameplay, including a new purchasable Pop figurine of Super Brainz. It also shows how you can import your Garden Warfare 1 characters and abilities, and also confirms that all the abilities from the original game will return to Garden Warfare 2.
• February 18, 2016: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is officially released on EA Access and Origin Access.
• February 23, 2016: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is officially released in North America.
• February 25, 2016: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is officially released in Europe.
• March 1, 2016: PopCap announces their first content update, the Graveyard Variety Pack while will fix several bugs and glitches, balance Rose to be more of a support class and will also add a new Suburbia-themed map.
• March 7, 2016: A trailer showing off the Graveyard Variety Pack DLC is released.
• March 8, 2016: The Graveyard Variety Pack DLC is released, featuring a rework to Rose, balance changes and more. It also brings back the Garden Center, which is zombified and is now known as the Aqua Center.
• March 22, 2016: PopCap releases a special "Springening Pack" that includes new customization items, including hats for Kernel Corn and Super Brainz, to celebrate the forthcoming of Easter.
• April 12, 2016: An update fixes various glitches, with one being where the player is forced to redo the opening sequence of the game again, as well as some data unsaved from their previous session.
• April 29, 2016: A Live from PopCap episode showcases several new concept ideas, including a possible new mushroom-themed class and a brand new map which appears to be a zombified version of New York. This is later revealed to be named Zombopolis.
• May 5-8, 2016: A special event celebrates Plants vs. Zombies' 7th birthday, increasing the XP multiplier to x2, and getting a sticker pack containing 7 customization items.
• May 17, 2016: The Trouble in Zombopolis Part One DLC was announced along with patch notes.
• May 31, 2016: The Trouble In Zombopolis: Part One DLC is released, featuring the new Herbal Assault map Zombopolis, two new characters: Toxic Citron and Breakfast Brainz, and also a great amount of character balancing, along with 1,200 new customization items exclusive to a new sticker pack called Zany Zombopolis Pack.
• June 26, 2016: PopCap announces the Trouble in Zombopolis: Part Two DLC, which includes balancing to both characters and maps, along with new features, set to release on June 30.
• June 30, 2016: The Trouble In Zombopolis: Part Two DLC is released, bringing back Community Challenges from the first game as well as the Progress-o-meter, where you can keep track of the community's progress and get rewards. It also includes new Delivery Challenges, which put the player in fast-paced time trials to get their best time. It also includes lots of character and map balancing.
• August 2, 2016: A character balancing update is released, which changes many characters, including buffing the standard Cactus, Camo Cactus, Electro Citron, and Camo Ranger. In addition, all of the Citrons' damage, except for the aforementioned Electro Citron, were reduced in this update.
• August 16 - September 7, 2016: An "Intercepting Gnomiverse Transmission" was live for a few weeks, unveiling letters between King Gnomus and The Ministry of Mystery (AKA The MoM).
• September 7, 2016: A video on twitter confirms that all gestures from the original Garden Warfare will return.
• September 8, 2016: The Trials of Gnomus DLC was released, said to be the biggest content update in GW2 yet. It adds an all new dimension, the introduction of Rainbow Stars, all new multiplayer experience, and a whole lot more. This update even brings the return of the first 8 classes' gestures from Garden Warfare 1.
• September 30, 2016: A PopCap livestream had taken place at its usual time at 10:00 EST, showcasing the new Boss Hunt mode, and the last day at PopCap for Gary Clay.
• October 18 - Halloween, 2016: The Lawn of Doom event goes live, which features a new character named Sleepy Bat, who offers daily challenges to players by finding a hidden key to unlock the Halloween-themed chest next to him, which contains a special Halloween-themed customization item.
• November 1 - 14, 2016: The Lawn of Doom has ended, but to make up for it, PopCap releases the Lawn of Doom pack, containing the hats and consumables that were available through Sleepy Bat.
• November 22, 2016: PopCap teases an all new variant for the Rose class via Twitter, possibly hinting at the next content update.
• November 24, 2016: PopCap reveals another teaser, showing another teaser of the unnamed toxic variant for Captain Deadbeard.
• November 29, 2016: A balance patch is released, which nerfs Torchwood and Hover-Goat 3000, buffs to manual detonation characters, and health decrease to Armor Chomper, and a few other notes. Secretly, however, this is the next content update known as the Frontline Fighters DLC.
• November 30, 2016: A Live from PopCap episode airs on Wednesday at 11:00 AM, showcasing two new variants: Captain Squawk and Nec'Rose. The release date for Frontline Fighters is set to be released the following day.