Home / Games / Hollywood Animal
Hollywood Animal
Make movies, even if someone has to die. Take the helm of a major Hollywood studio at the dawn of sound cinema, and guide it through decades of creative achievements and glamor, debauchery and dark deeds, tough choices and unpleasant compromises.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-04 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-13.
What reviewers agree on
64 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I really want to love this game, but it’s a bit of a "trial by fire." If you’re expecting something like This is the Police, think again! The gameplay is solid, but the lack of info is frustrating. You basically need a…”
“i love this game, seeing my employees grow to become hollywood legends is awesome, however there is a lot to improve, here are some suggestions: [list] [*][b] commercial and artistic status [/b] should dynamically…”
“An economic simulator with some Paradox grand strategy vibes. This game still has a long road ahead, but the potential is immense. Good stuff first: [list] [*]Core gameplay loop is well polished [*]Writing scripts is a…”
19 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I am so excited about this game. After waiting a very long time for a spiritual successor to Lionhead's The Movies, I think can declare this game to be it. The atmosphere, the music, the art style are all beautiful and…”
“its promising, a lot of potential, and quite impressive for an early access. has a long way to go though, in so many ways. i'd give a neutral review if i could, but ill lean positive because im optimistic”
“This game has the potential to be one of the better management games of the 2020s, but you can tell that its in early access. Playable? yes! fun? sure. optimized/polished? not just yet, but its getting there. I'd say…”
17 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I really want to love this game, but it’s a bit of a "trial by fire." If you’re expecting something like This is the Police, think again! The gameplay is solid, but the lack of info is frustrating. You basically need a…”
“I was very excited to play this game even when I avoid early access games as a rule and now. well, now I've remembered why I avoid early access games. The progression is off and the tech tree is too slow. Happiness is…”
“I am so excited about this game. After waiting a very long time for a spiritual successor to Lionhead's The Movies, I think can declare this game to be it. The atmosphere, the music, the art style are all beautiful and…”
14 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“This has the POTENTIAL to be a truly great game. Some of the story arcs had me gasping, even though I'm familiar with this era of history and Hollywood history in particular. They absolutely brought the drama of this…”
“I am so excited about this game. After waiting a very long time for a spiritual successor to Lionhead's The Movies, I think can declare this game to be it. The atmosphere, the music, the art style are all beautiful and…”
“Huge fan of This Is The Police, and personally invested and working in the film industry, so... frickin heaven. Biases aside, this goes deep and darkly delirious. Watch the movie Babylon, by Damion Chazelle, and you…”
6 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I am so excited about this game. After waiting a very long time for a spiritual successor to Lionhead's The Movies, I think can declare this game to be it. The atmosphere, the music, the art style are all beautiful and…”
“The game has stunning visuals and music, but the gameplay is mediocre. It gives you a very nice and immersive tutorial but then it seems like the whole world is against you. There are random events that can happen, but…”
“We come to this place for magic. We come to AMC theaters to laugh, to cry, to care. Because we need that. All of us. That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim, and we go somewhere we never been…”
32 of the 104 reviews raise this · 15 of them still recommend the game.
“''Build exactly the studio you want!'' If you don't regularly kidnap, sell heroin, kill people or any other criminal stuff youll go bankrupt or get spammed with non stop police raids or have the mafia on you. If you…”
“firstly its a puzzle game not a movie sim game, your forced to play by the devs in a set way or you have no chance of progressing if you dont believe me try playing squeeky clean and avoiding the bad choices and see how…”
“The current experience is not very good. 1. The development time of the technology tree is beyond imagination, and the cost of trial and error is extremely high, which has caused strict restrictions on the player's…”
30 of the 104 reviews raise this · 13 of them still recommend the game.
“''Build exactly the studio you want!'' If you don't regularly kidnap, sell heroin, kill people or any other criminal stuff youll go bankrupt or get spammed with non stop police raids or have the mafia on you. If you…”
“firstly its a puzzle game not a movie sim game, your forced to play by the devs in a set way or you have no chance of progressing if you dont believe me try playing squeeky clean and avoiding the bad choices and see how…”
“The current experience is not very good. 1. The development time of the technology tree is beyond imagination, and the cost of trial and error is extremely high, which has caused strict restrictions on the player's…”
22 of the 104 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“''Build exactly the studio you want!'' If you don't regularly kidnap, sell heroin, kill people or any other criminal stuff youll go bankrupt or get spammed with non stop police raids or have the mafia on you. If you…”
“firstly its a puzzle game not a movie sim game, your forced to play by the devs in a set way or you have no chance of progressing if you dont believe me try playing squeeky clean and avoiding the bad choices and see how…”
“The current experience is not very good. 1. The development time of the technology tree is beyond imagination, and the cost of trial and error is extremely high, which has caused strict restrictions on the player's…”
19 of the 104 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“I really want to love this game, but it’s a bit of a "trial by fire." If you’re expecting something like This is the Police, think again! The gameplay is solid, but the lack of info is frustrating. You basically need a…”
“I was very excited to play this game even when I avoid early access games as a rule and now. well, now I've remembered why I avoid early access games. The progression is off and the tech tree is too slow. Happiness is…”
“The game is hard, but not in an enjoyable kind of way. You would have to reset multiple times for you to be able to finally get it right, but it is also in some specific way that limits how you want to play the game.…”
13 of the 104 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“An economic simulator with some Paradox grand strategy vibes. This game still has a long road ahead, but the potential is immense. Good stuff first: [list] [*]Core gameplay loop is well polished [*]Writing scripts is a…”
“Well, what can be said most definitely is, that the creators of this thing look like they do mean their thing very seriously, and they even insist on a historical basis of the events presented. I wonder, where from they…”
“Bugged game. You can't make any money. You are only allowed to research things in one way cuz otherwise you go bankrupt. The stories with the characters are always the same - super boring. You have to research and build…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 73.2% positive rating · as of 2026-05-13
“After a couple of updates, the game is in a good state. But before buying it, you should know these; - This is not a sandbox game. No matter what anyone says, there is a clear path to choose on research(otherwise you will be really late to save your studio) and to events. -…”
— a player, Steam review · 31 hrs played“I love this game. If you're into movies and management-type games even a little bit, I highly recommend it. It hits that "logic puzzle" spot perfectly, while maintaining a wonderful "old Hollywood" atmosphere. "I'll just make one more movie," I say, and then it's 4 hours later…”
— a player, Steam review · 324 hrs played“Okay so I took one look at the reviews of this game and decided to make one to settle any quarrels someone might have on buying this game. If you look at the reviews you'll notice people with larger hours put into this game tend to be positive and around the ten hour mark tend…”
— a player, Steam review · 306 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Update 0.8.72EA
Work on Act 2 is in full swing, but we didn't want to leave you without any updates in the meantime. So we've taken some of your most requested features, polished a few long-standing rough edges, and
Hollywood Animal is 33% off during the Steam Summer Sale
Hello! If you’ve been thinking about picking up Hollywood Animal, now is the perfect time: until July 9th, it’s available with a 33% discount as part of the Steam Summer Sale. Enjoy the game!
Update 0.8.71EA
Fixed a bug which caused Bobby Martin to leave your studio without notifying you. Fixed a bug which caused expenses for extending an advertising campaign to be counted as income. Fixed a bug which cau
Act 2: Where Is the Game Heading?
Act 2 of Hollywood Animal, which spans up to 1965, is shaping up to be the most complex and content-rich part of the game. Naturally, it will include a vast number of new events, scandals, characters,
Update 0.8.70EA
Illegal Tendencies now vary more frequently among characters. The "Game Over" screen has been redesigned. Added 600 new posters (no, we won't chill with the damn posters). Various UI fixes. Added a ne
Games like Hollywood Animal
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
Norland
82.7% · 3,079 reviews
shares Real Time With Pause, City Builder, Economy, RTS
Anno 1800
78.6% · 12,398 reviews
shares City Builder, Economy, RTS, Historical
Empires of the Undergrowth
95.3% · 10,912 reviews
shares Real Time With Pause, City Builder, Economy, RTS
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
89.7% · 9,053 reviews
shares Real Time With Pause, City Builder, Economy, RTS
Cataclismo
89.0% · 2,361 reviews
shares Real Time With Pause, City Builder, Economy, RTS
Clanfolk
93.5% · 2,173 reviews
shares Real Time With Pause, City Builder, Economy, RTS
Manor Lords
87.3% · 42,755 reviews
shares Real Time With Pause, City Builder, Economy, RTS
Frostpunk
92.8% · 45,671 reviews
shares Real Time With Pause, City Builder, Economy, RTS
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-13.
| Genres | Simulation, Strategy, Early Access |
| Player tags | Early Access · Simulation · Strategy · City Builder · Choices Matter · Atmospheric · Economy · Building · Emotional · Realistic · Multiple Endings · Replay Value (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English, German, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Japanese, French, Portuguese - Brazil |
| Achievements | 14 |
| Official site | http://weappy-studio.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS: Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit Processor: Dual Core CPU Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Intel UHD 620, GeForce GT 930MX, AMD R7 240 or equivalent DirectX: Version 10 Sound Card: DirectX compatible