After months of preorder pages and forum speculation, Graveyard Keeper 2 launches today, September 22, 2026. If the sequel inherits even half of the original's staying power — the first Graveyard Keeper has quietly accumulated more than 55,000 Steam reviews at 85% positive since 2018 — then a lot of cemetery keepers are about to lose their entire evening.
But launch day has a way of wasting your first hour on the wrong questions. Did my demo progress carry over? Is the discount still active? Can I play co-op yet? Before you fire up the graveyard, here's a five-minute checklist — with the fan-maintained field guide graveyardkeeper.org as the reference point, since it has been tracking these exact answers with dated, store-sourced updates all through the pre-launch window.
1. Sort out your demo save before anything else
If you put time into the demo, don't uninstall or delete anything yet. The demo save transfer explainer walks through what carries into the full game and what to do with your existing save file — the one launch-day question most coverage skipped entirely. Ten minutes of reading here can save you from replaying your first few hours.
2. Check the price before the discount disappears
At the time of writing, storefronts are still showing the introductory 20% discount — US$19.99 instead of the US$24.99 base price. Introductory pricing doesn't usually stick around long after launch, and it has already varied between stores during the preorder window. The price and launch-offer page lists what each storefront actually shows right now, with the date each number was last verified, so you're not guessing which store is cheapest.
3. Confirm your storefront's unlock time
"September 22" doesn't unlock at the same moment everywhere — Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo each roll out on their own schedule, and regional timing differs on top of that. The release date and time tracker keeps the current per-store status in one place, including preload availability, which is worth confirming before you're staring at a download bar tonight.
4. Reset your multiplayer expectations now
The most-searched question about this game remains "is it co-op?" and the honest answer hasn't changed for launch: official store listings describe single-player only, with local co-op, online co-op, and crossplay still unconfirmed. The multiplayer status page tracks what official sources actually say versus what forums hope — reading it once now saves you the disappointment of booting up expecting to run the graveyard with a friend tonight.
5. Know your hardware situation
Planning to play from the couch? The Steam Deck compatibility breakdown covers controller support and verified status, and the system requirements page tells you whether your PC handles the sequel before you're three layers deep in patch notes. Full controller support is confirmed; the rest is worth a quick look.
Worth bookmarking for the weeks ahead
The launch is where a game like this actually starts getting complicated. Graveyard Keeper 2 adds automation, an undead army, and what the developers describe as turning "the zombie problem into a thriving business" — which means tech trees, production chains, and corpse economics are coming, and the wiki-grade answers will take weeks to stabilize. A site that kept its pre-launch facts straight and date-stamped every claim is a good one to keep around for that phase. The Start Here page routes you to whatever question brought you in, and the site has already started publishing deeper dives, like a combat overview for the sequel's reworked fighting.
One thing to keep in mind: graveyardkeeper.org is an unofficial, fan-made resource — not affiliated with Lazy Bear Games or tinyBuild. That's the right kind of launch companion: no PR spin, just sourced answers, updated as the stores change them.
Have a good first night on the graveyard. Don't forget to price your burials.
