Developer Colossal Order announced that it was indefinitely delaying the console release of its troubled city-builder Cities Skylines 2.
Prior to the announcement, the game was targeting a launch on Xbox and PlayStation sometime in October later this year. In a post, the developer said that they are still making slow but steady progress on a console version of the game.
Cities Skylines 2's Delayed Console Release
(Photo : Colossal Order, Paradox Interactive / Screenshot taken from Steam)
However, it added that there are still unresolved issues that are impacting Cities Skylines 2 in ways that harm the player experience that they want to deliver. The studio noted that they expect to receive a new release schedule for consoles that will undergo a "thorough review" in August.
This evaluation will be what determines whether or not they can begin the submission process and provide a solid release date. On the other hand, it may also be the one that determines if further issues need to be addressed.
The situation comes despite Paradox Interactive publishing multiple pieces of downloadable content for Cities Skylines 2. The game has still been plagued with performance and stability issues since it was launched on PC in October last year, according to Polygon.
This forced the developers to issue an apology to players in April 2024 and later, the cancellation of Life by You made things even worse for the publisher. So far, Colossal Order has managed to meet its goals that were outlined in the publicly available year-one roadmap for Cities Skylines 2.
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Despite this, persistent issues and a lack of mod support have resulted in players clinging onto the original Cities Skylines game for their city-building needs. The publisher said that it expected the news of an indefinite delay for a console release would be disappointing for fans of the franchise.
However, the studio said that it remained committed to keeping the fan base informed throughout the development process even if the updates are not always good news. Even ahead of the game's release, there have already been some troublesome signs for Cities Skylines 2.
A Troubled Launch
At the time, Paradox Interactive said that the city-building sequel had "not achieved the performance benchmark we targeted." However, the studio still decided to put out the PC version of the game, said Eurogamer.
Some of the reviews for Cities Skylines 2 said that it is an ambitious sequel that might have bitten off more than it can chew. It added that there needs to be a lot of terraforming to keep your metropolis from looking like a nightmare.
Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen also admitted that not having mod support for the game was the developer's "biggest regret." In April, the publisher offered refunds for the game's latest DLC following negative feedback from the community.
Hallikainen and the deputy CEO of Paradox Interactive, Mattias Lilja, admitted that the Beach Properties DLC was rushed out. This was so that they could try to improve sentiment around the troubled launch of Cities Skylines 2.
But now, more and more people are playing the original Cities Skylines compared to the sequel on Valve's gaming platform, according to IGN.
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