Cities: Skylines 2 Removes Landlords To Fix Issues With Unfair Rent Prices

Cities: Skylines 2 developer Colossal Order implemented a new update that removes landlords in the game in an effort to address extremely unfair rent prices.

It wasn't much of a secret that the city-building game had a bit of a rent problem which was evidenced by even the briefest of searches on its subreddit. Many players kept bumping into the same systemic nightmare time and time again.

Cities: Skylines 2 Fixes Rent Issue

Cities: Skylines 2 Removes Landlords To Fix Issues With Unfair Rent Prices — Developer Colossal Order implemented a new update for Cities: Skylines 2 that aims to fix unfair rent prices by removing landlords from the game.
(Photo : Colossal Order, Paradox Interactive / Screenshot taken from Steam)

Many of the advice that Cities: Skylines 2 players give to others who are having issues reflect those that are taken in real life. These include zone more smaller sized homes, which is something that is observed in the United States.

There was also another player who said that if the economy is healthy and tax rates are appropriately set, most cims will navigate low rent signs and be content.

He argued that in the end, the civilian population needs to earn income and taxes need to be low enough so they could stay in the building, according to PCGamer.

The user said that the situation is a systemic problem with low-density neighborhoods that matches what happens in real life. When some people buy homes, they simply cannot afford to live in them for an extended period.

The icons that have flooded players' cities have become so irritating that the developer was forced to take drastic actions. These are two contradictory measures that hopefully solve the issue with rent prices in the game.

In a blog post, Colossal Order said that the first is the removal of the virtual landlord, which means that a building's upkeep is now paid equally by all renters. The studio said that this mechanic appears to be news to just about every player.

The second is that when cims do not have enough money, they will no longer complain and will instead spend less on resources. Players will not see the "High Rent" warning unless their income is way too low, which will now prompt them to find cheaper housing or leave the city entirely, said TheGamer.

Abnormally Unfair Rent Prices

Other than making a change to rent, the new update also makes households and companies pay for the building's upkeep. This will, in turn, affect the level of the building. The developer said that when these entities pay the full upkeep fee, the building condition increases by a constant amount until it levels up.

This is also true for the opposite side, where if they cannot pay for it, the building condition gradually decreases until it is in such poor condition that it collapses. This means that there are two main consequences for failing to pay rent.

These are one, being forced to move out of the city that they are currently living in, and two, the building that you live in will collapse. This makes it even more crucial for cims to have money on hand to prevent any unnecessary troubles.

The various changes are all coming as part of a broader overhaul effort to fix Cities: Skylines 2's economy. Fortunately, existing saves will continue to work just fine when the new update rolls out, according to GamesRadar.