Cities: Skylines 2 promises compensation to DLC owners, apologizes for the state of the game (again)

Things aren’t great for the Cities: Skylines 2 developer Colossal Order. The city-builder has been in a rough spot from day one, and neither patches nor DLCs have improved the situation. It’s been so grim, in fact, that the studio and publisher have issued yet another apology to players for its launch and subsequent updates.

Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order have sent out a new email to all owners of Cities: Skylines 2 titled ‘The way forward,’ where they acknowledge the game’s current state and promise teams are working hard to improve it as soon as possible.

“We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form,” reads the email from Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen and Paradox Interactive Deputy CEO Mattias Lilja. “For all this, we are truly sorry.”

Colossal Order apologizes for the state of Cities: Skylines 2, again

To accommodate a universally appropriate solution to this whole mess, Colossal Order has promised that the DLC in question, the Beach Properties Asset Pack, will be made free. Ultimate Edition owners will not be offered refunds, however, as there are “significant complexities” in place due to the distribution of the game across physical and digital storefronts. Instead, CO will compensate all Ultimate Edition holders with 3 bonus Creator Packs Radio Stations which, as the email claims, “sum up to a value of USD 39.99.”

“We will focus on additional free patches and game updates in the coming months before Colossal Order spends time on new paid content, resulting in a move of the Bridges and Ports Expansion to 2025. In addition, the aforementioned Creator Packs are being produced independently, and will not take any focus away from the work on improving the game,” says the email.

This whole schtick isn’t the first time that Colossal Order or Paradox has apologized for the state of Cities: Skylines 2, in case I’ve given you a case of Déjà vu. “Trust is hard,” said the CEO of Colossal Order in December 2023. “After losing it, it will take time to rebuild. And we must now do the work.”

The email also addresses the upcoming console release of Cities: Skylines 2. Notably, whereas the original plan was to have the game out in Spring 2024, but that’s not going to happen. “We have been struggling to get Cities: Skylines II to the necessary level of optimization for a console release, but are now hopeful that an upcoming build delivery in April will demonstrate sufficient progress for us to progress with a release candidate, and then a release build targeted for October,” says the message.

All things considered, Colossal Order is in a bit of a pickle at this time. Cities: Skylines 2 has slowly been getting better with each subsequent patch, but the progress simply hasn’t been meaningful enough to improve community goodwill and begin earning back the players’ trust. On the game’s biggest subreddit, the players are extremely miffed about the situation, and given that this is the second time that Colossal Order has apologized about the state of the game, it’s not a great look. With a little bit of luck, though, Cities: Skylines 2 will be the game it was always meant to be before 2025 rolls up, and CO will be on track to earn its players’ trust anew.