Cities: Skylines 2 devs ‘doing the best they can’ amidst overwhelmingly negative reviews

It isn’t uncommon for a sequel to be a shadow of its predecessor, but rarely is there a case like Cities: Skylines 2. Arguably a good game at its core, it has received poor reviews primarily due to performance issues, prompting the studio’s CEO to acknowledge the game’s current state.

On Feb. 26, Cities 2 developer Colossal Order’s CEO, Mariina Hallikainen, spoke in a regular “Word of the Week” update regarding the game’s current state. On “How to get out of this mess,” Hallikainen said CO would rather be in a different position than it is now but that it “cannot change the past.” The executive explained that the Swedish developer is doing “the best it can” to get the city-builder back on track, but “only time will tell” if that will work out as intended. She further explained the reasoning behind the studio’s move away from weekly updates, saying they put too much weight on the developers, which number only 30 in total.

Hallikainen promised that the studio will not falter in its quest to improve the game and, against all odds, players will “continue to see that progress in the game.” She expressed her and the studio’s biggest regret in the weekly update: the lack of mod support in Cities 2. The modding tools have been announced and delayed since launch and are still not in the game. The original Cities: Skylines primarily lived off of the modding community, with many of the innovations therein eventually finding their way into the sequel. The studio, Hallikainen explains, ran out of time due to mounting technical issues the game faced and continues to face. Therefore, development on official modding tools had to be halted.

Hallikainen praised the Cities 2 community for their feedback, no matter the kind, saying it is “valued and appreciated.” The community has been going through much since the game came out, with notable content creators and modders quitting altogether due to the ever-increasing issues, and the game now sits at a meager 34 percent positive reviews on Steam. It carries the “mostly negative” review tag, whereas its total review score is currently “mixed.”

As part of the weekly update, the Colossal Order studio head also shared what is being worked on next based on community feedback:

• Zone and Land Value changes.
• Improved education systems, particularly for children and teens.
• A more transparent economic system.
• More balance in subsidies and service importing.
• Improved balancing between negative happiness ratings and lack of basic utilities, such as sewage, water, and electricity.