Cities Skylines 2: Ultimate Edition vs. Standard differences explained

Cities Skylines 2 has officially been released and it’s not off to the greatest of starts due to technical issues. If you’re still thinking of picking it up, however, you might be going back and forth trying to decide which edition of the game to buy.

The primary two editions you can purchase for Cities Skylines 2 are the Standard and Ultimate Editions. As you might expect, the Standard Edition is the cheaper option, costing $50, while the Ultimate Edition is double the price at $90. Of course, with a higher price tag comes more rewards, which might tempt you into purchasing the Ultimate Edition.

Before you make a decision either way, I’ll go over the differences between the two editions and offer an opinion as to which edition of Cities Skylines 2 is worth buying.

Cities Skylines 2 Standard vs. Ultimate Edition

At the time of writing, the Standard Edition of Cities Skylines 2 only comes with the base game. However, there are a couple of pre-order bonuses you can score if you decide to purchase the game early. The pre-order bonuses for the Standard Edition include:

• 9 global Landmarks
  • London Eye (London, UK)
  • Notre Dame (Paris, France)
  • National Gallery (London, UK)
  • Grand Hotel
  • Botanical Garden
  • Näsinneula (Tampere, Finland)
  • Xi’an Bell Tower (Xi’an, China)
  • Sungnye/Namdaemun (Seoul, South Korea)
  • National Diet (Tokyo, Japan)
• Tampere, Finland map

All pre-orders receive these bonuses, so it doesn’t matter if you purchase the Standard or Ultimate Edition. If you don’t pre-order the Standard Edition, though, all you will receive is the base game for $50.

Moving over to the Ultimate Edition, there are quite a few more rewards in store, regardless of whether you pre-order or not. The bonuses included with the Ultimate Edition are:

• San Francisco set (immediately unlocked in-game)
  • Includes Muscle Car Garage, 5 Muscle Cars, Police Car, Golden Gate Bridge, and San Francisco Map
• Asset Pack for Beach Properties
• Bridges and Ports Expansion
• Urban Promenades and Modern Architecture Content Creator Packs
• Deluxe Relax, Soft Rock Radio, and Cold Wave Channel Radio Stations

There are eight bonuses in total if you purchase the Ultimate Edition of Cities Skylines 2, with the Bridges and Ports Expansion being the main highlight. This expansion is set to be released in the summer of 2024 and will include the ability to create a port city and add draw bridges, lighthouses, and 100 more assets to your cities.

Is the Ultimate Edition of Cities Skylines 2 worth it?

If you’re thinking of purchasing the Ultimate Edition, I suggest asking yourself one question: do you plan on playing Cities Skylines 2 until next summer?

If the answer to that question is yes, then I fully endorse you purchasing the Ultimate Edition. The Bridges and Ports Expansion, along with all of the other bonuses, makes the Ultimate Edition a decent value at its current $90 price tag.

If you don’t think or know if Cities Skylines 2 will last you until next summer, then the Standard Edition likely suits you for now. This goes double for anyone who doesn’t have a top-of-the-line PC, as the performance issues currently plaguing the game will likely stop you from playing the game at all. You don’t want to spend $90 on the Ultimate Edition only to have your PC not be able to run the game.

Of course, it’s your money, so you can spend however you see fit. But if you’re unsure of your PC’s ability to smoothly run Cities Skylines 2 or you don’t know how much you’ll play the game in the future, I would stick with the Standard Edition.