Highlights
- Hallikainen expresses regret over the lack of mod support in Cities: Skylines 2, acknowledging community frustration.
- Players were critical of the sequel's launch, citing missing features like Editor UI and inadequate modding support.
- Despite initial setbacks, Colossal Order vows to improve Cities: Skylines 2 with new features and clearer communication.
CEO of Colossal Order, Mariina Hallikainen, has revealed that her "biggest regret" about the studio's recent release, Cities: Skylines 2, was a lack of mod support. With Cities: Skylines 2 now just over four months old, community frustration at the state of the game remains extremely high.
As the follow-up title to Cities: Skylines, this sequel had plenty to live up to. Many players were happy still playing the original game, which in 2015 took the city-building genre by storm just two years after the failure of SimCity. To justify a sequel, Cities: Skylines 2 had to be something special. However, most felt that the game launched half-baked and missing features that it should have had, most notably the Editor UI. As a result, the community hasn't taken kindly to Colossal Order since October, so much so that Hallikainen previously had to address the toxicity of Cities: Skylines 2 fans.
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In the latest Word of the Week post on Steam, the CEO of Colossal Order, Mariina Hallikainen, spoke candidly about the continued issues with the game, even going as far as to call the lack of modding support for the game her "biggest regret." After all, the mods for Cities: Skylines were a key part of why players remained engaged with the original title for so many years. She goes on to claim that "the intent was to have it fully ready at release," but the studio was "all hands on deck to fix the performance" as the release date grew closer.
The 'Biggest Regret' of Cities: Skylines 2
When it was confirmed that Cities: Skylines 2 would miss mod support at launch, the community was not happy. The news that the game was foregoing platforms such as the Steam Workshop in favor of a proprietary content platform titled Paradox Mods also caused much confusion, although hopefully, this is something that becomes clearer when mods finally drop for Cities: Skylines 2. While Hallikainen's words don't offer anything concrete, she does confirm that the studio will be "communicating more on the status of the modding soon," so it shouldn't be too much longer to wait now.
There's a long way to go before Cities: Skylines 2 can be mentioned in the same breath as its predecessor. The original Cities: Skylines is comfortably one of the best city-building games of all time, and sadly, the sequel isn't on that level yet for many players. Importantly, the framework of a great game seems to exist, so as long as Colossal Order remains committed to bringing new features to the title, it should eventually get to where it needs to be.
Cities: Skylines 2
Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive's Cities: Skylines 2 builds on the foundations of its 2015 predecessor. Prioritizing realism, the city-building sim offers a deep economic system and an ever-changing world driven by player choice and creativity.
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- October 24, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Colossal Order
- Publisher(s)
- Paradox Interactive
