Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive, the developer and publisher behind Cities: Skylines 2, have issued a joint statement warning players of potential performance issues ahead of the game’s release next week.
In a forum post on Paradox Plaza on Oct. 15, they commented on the game’s technological scope and how it has impacted their attempts to bring players a title that performs well across the board.
“We’ve noticed the concerns raised about Cities: Skylines II performance, especially after our previous statement with raised minimum and recommended specs,” the statement reads. “As we’ve always believed in transparency, we’d like to further shed some light on the current state of the build.”
Cities: Skylines 2 has ended up being more demanding than anticipated, and Colossal Order has failed to achieve targeted performance benchmarks for their upcoming city building simulation. They’ve expressed their pride over how Cities: Skylines 2 has shaped up as a major leap in city-building games but wanted to curb the community’s performance expectations.
“Cities: Skylines II is a next-gen title, and naturally, it demands certain hardware requirements. With that said, while our team has worked tirelessly to deliver the best experience possible, we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted.”
The developers also promised to bring the game to its fullest potential as soon as possible: “Our ambition is for Cities: Skylines II to be enjoyed by as many players as possible, and we’re committed to ensuring it reaches its full potential.”
Cities: Skylines 2 was also expected to launch on consoles, but that version was delayed to Spring 2024 due to unsatisfying performance levels.
News of potentially bad performance on PC isn’t the only thing the developers focused on in their announcement. Mods are a significant focus of most Paradox Interactive titles, and were the pride and joy of the original Cities: Skylines, and Colossal Order have decided to give modders the utmost creative freedom.
The official modding tools will become available shortly after release, and mods will also be made available to console players through their new Paradox Mods platform. Console players are usually left in the dirt regarding mods, making this a unique and welcome decision on behalf of Colossal Order.
Unfortunately, the Steam Workshop will no longer be supported, which may prove a major blow to the Cities: Skylines 2 modding community. The original title’s Steam Workshop features hundreds of various mods focusing on every aspect of the game, from graphics to assets to groundbreaking gameplay features.
“We are using Paradox mods for Cities: Skylines II. This is to ensure cross-platform modding compatibility and to provide an integrated in-game experience for our players,” they’ve said in an FAQ, justifying their decision to abandon the Steam Workshop.
Be it all as it may, Cities: Skylines 2 launches worldwide on Oct. 24, and it won’t take long for players to gauge if Colossal’s decisions were worth it.
