Cities: Skylines II

Lore & Background

Cities: Skylines II was revealed on 6 March 2023 as part of the Paradox Announcement Show 2023. Originally planned for a late 2020 launch, various development issues delayed the release. The game uses the Unity engine and was initially targeted for simultaneous computer and console release, but on 28 September 2023 Paradox announced the console versions would not ship on 24 October and were delayed to spring 2024, with preorders refunded. Colossal Order cited a need to improve console gameplay and optimization. In July 2024, Paradox announced another delay for console versions due to stability and performance problems. On 17 November 2025, it was announced that Colossal Order would end its involvement and future development would move to Iceflake Studios. As of late 2026, no information from Iceflake Studios regarding a console release date has been provided.

The game allows players to build a city on a virtual plot of land, laying roads, zoning, utilities, and services. Players can set policies such as tax rates and ordinances, and expand by purchasing additional tiles with city funds. Unlike its predecessor, the number of simulated citizens is limited only by computer or console specifications. The game includes a technology tree for unlocking transport options, and services can be expanded through upgrades of existing buildings. User modifications are supported through the Paradox Mods library, released on 25 March 2024, rather than Steam Workshop.

Reader's Guide

Cities: Skylines II received mixed or average reviews from critics according to Metacritic, and was nominated for Best Sim / Strategy Game at The Game Awards 2023. Critics noted new enjoyable systems but described the game as feeling like a beta or early access title, with performance problems and technical flaws drawing criticism. The game's larger scale was seen as losing something personal compared to its predecessor, though it was considered a potential future superior city-building game if improved. The game's development was marked by delays and optimization struggles, particularly for console versions, which remained unreleased as of late 2026. The downloadable content Beach Properties DLC faced backlash, leading to its removal from Steam and refunds for owners, with a pledge from the developer and publisher to focus on free patches and modding tools before further paid content. The game's significance lies in its ambitious expansion of the city-building genre's simulation depth, including improved traffic AI, larger buildable areas, and more detailed citizen simulation, though its launch was marred by performance issues that affected its reception and legacy.

Did You Know?

• The game allows building up to 441 tiles covering 171.33 km², expandable to 529 tiles via mod.
• Colossal Order ended involvement in development in November 2025, with Iceflake Studios taking over.
• The Beach Properties DLC was pulled from Steam and refunds offered after backlash.

A City That Breathes and Grows

Cities: Skylines II places the player on a virtual stretch of land where roads, zoning, utilities, and municipal services must be laid down to attract residents and businesses. The starting area spans nine tiles, but players can purchase additional land with city funds as milestones are reached, ultimately expanding to 441 tiles covering roughly 171 square kilometres—a dramatic leap from the original game's nine-tile limit. A community modification can push that boundary to 529 tiles. Unlike the first title, which capped rendered citizens at around 65,000, the sequel lets simulation scale with whatever hardware the player owns, and each city can accumulate up to two billion in currency. Every map carries a preset climate that drives seasonal weather: winters may dump snow, while summers can trigger flooding, forest fires, or tornadoes, all of which demand dedicated disaster-response infrastructure. The in-game clock compresses time so that a single day-night cycle represents one simulated month, and both weather and population behaviour follow annual and diurnal rhythms.

A Launch That Never Landed

The sequel was unveiled on 6 March 2023 during Paradox's announcement show, yet Colossal Order later revealed the project had originally been targeting a late-2020 launch before development issues pushed it back years. The Windows version finally shipped on 24 October 2023, but the simultaneous PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S release promised for the same date was pulled just three weeks earlier, on 28 September. Paradox closed console preorders, refunded all existing buyers, and cited the need to improve console gameplay quality and cross-platform optimisation. Minimum PC specifications were raised at the same time, and Colossal Order openly warned that launch performance might fall short of expectations, promising a stream of patches. By July 2024, Paradox announced yet another console delay, attributing it to ongoing stability and performance problems. The saga reached its most dramatic turn on 17 November 2025, when Colossal Order announced it would end its involvement entirely, with Iceflake Studios stepping in to assume development from the start of 2026. The game continues to run on the Unity engine, and eight downloadable content packs were already planned at launch.

Praise and Performance Woes

Reviews of the October 2023 launch were broadly mixed. Critics and players alike singled out the core city-building loop for praise, calling the expanded simulation systems and deeper gameplay genuinely rewarding. However, the same reviews repeatedly flagged the game's demanding hardware requirements and a catalogue of technical flaws that undermined the experience. Colossal Order had been transparent in the run-up to release, acknowledging in the week before launch that performance might not meet player expectations and outlining a planned series of patches to address the issues. On the console side, Paradox described ongoing struggles to reach a playable optimisation level, expressing hope that by April 2024 sufficient progress would be visible to move toward a release candidate, with a targeted October window still on the table. That optimism proved premature: in July 2024 the publisher confirmed a further delay, citing persistent stability and performance problems. The combination of a rocky PC launch and a console release that never materialised on schedule left a lasting mark on the game's reputation, even as its design ambitions were widely acknowledged.

Building on the Blueprint

As a direct sequel to the 2015 original, Cities: Skylines II systematically expands nearly every simulation pillar. Where the first game offered nine tiles of buildable area, or 25 in the remastered edition, the sequel stretches to 441 tiles, though each individual tile is correspondingly smaller. The citizen cap that once held at roughly 65,000 rendered agents is now governed solely by the player's hardware. Traffic routing moves beyond simple distance calculations, weighing route length, travel costs, comfort, and individual agent preferences. Police and fire services can now be pinned to specific districts for faster response, rather than operating on a city-wide basis. New service categories—telecommunications and welfare—join the existing roster of police, fire, deathcare, education, and waste management, and all services can be expanded by upgrading existing facilities instead of constructing entirely new buildings. Transport options are unlocked through a technology tree powered by development points rather than city population thresholds, and passenger and freight lines can now import and export between multiple virtual cities. Construction styles span both American and European aesthetics, and modding capabilities have been significantly deepened.

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