Cities: Skylines 2 continues to struggle. The developer’s CEO Mariina Hallikainen announced on April 18 that all purchases of the first DLC, Beach Properties, will be refunded. She also promised to involve the community more in the development process and to move away from paid DLC until at least 2025.
More than 200 years of growth in 60 seconds in the skyline of cities
She said this and more in a post on Paradox Plaza, the official forum of publisher Paradox Interactive. Hallikainen apologized to the community for underperforming and delivering DLC that “should not have been released in its current form.” The Cities 2 developer at Colossal Order has tried to make amends with the community after a rocky launch. But the efforts haven’t “been happening at a pace or scale that is acceptable,” she said. To make up for it, the game’s first DLC, Beach Properties, will be free to all players, with buyers getting a full refund. However, players who own the Ultimate Edition will be compensated with additional DLC on the way.
Hallikainen also shared some good news with players. “Player representatives,” as she called them, will be more involved in the development process and will have the greatest transparency from both Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive. These player representatives will be chosen based on the size of their following within the Cities: Skylines community, indicating that they could be YouTubers or other content creators dedicated to the city-building franchise.
As Colossal Order focuses on delivering tangible and meaningful updates to Cities 2, the company will be steering clear of paid DLCs for the time being. The Bridges and Ports expansion has been delayed until 2025. The studio will also spend more time developing and improving its recently released modding tools, which lack a number of features related to the asset editor.
