10 Years of Cities: Skylines

[Licenturion]

And unfortunately I am increasingly convinced that after "Bridges & Port", which they are forced to release due to contractual obligations, then everything will close.

Nah. As long as a console release is a possibility they will keep this game alive. This is a big new revenue channel for Paradox and they have invested quite a lot in this it seems (1.5 year of porting, the whole mod platform etc). So as long as this is not cancelled CS2 will live on probably. I won't buy any DLC anymore after I have my Ultimate Edition stuff because after all this I don't want to support these developers financially anymore. (and that comes from someone who has all the CS1 radio stations and DLC to support the game and developers)

As for the bald guy his reaction; it could well be they are under very strict instructions not to reveal anything new because they want tight control over the communication channels after Marina her 2015 way of handling things right after CS2 release.

 

[raf8655]

Nah. As long as a console release is a possibility they will keep this game alive. This is a big new revenue channel for Paradox and they have invested quite a lot in this it seems (1.5 year of porting, the whole mod platform etc). So as long as this is not cancelled CS2 will live on probably. I won't buy any DLC anymore after I have my Ultimate Edition stuff because after all this I don't want to support these developers financially anymore. (and that comes from someone who has all the CS1 radio stations and DLC to support the game and developers)

As for the bald guy his reaction; it could well be they are under very strict instructions not to reveal anything new because they want tight control over the communication channels after Marina her 2015 way of handling things right after CS2 release.

It could also be as you say. Personally I don't really like simulation and management games on consoles, but these are personal tastes and maybe many people think the opposite and therefore there will be many sales on consoles.

I don't want to be inconsistent, so I don't feel like saying that I won't buy any DLC in the future, especially if it's well done and if it can give hours of extra fun, but I WILL DEFINITELY NEVER BUY ANYTHING IN ADVANCE from CO and Paradox.
However, as I was saying, I see this as a very remote option at the moment, a very utopian future, given that we are in the situation we all know.

 

[Economist_Plays]

Have you seen his facial expression?

His eyes started wandering around looking for an answer.

Bikes currently are so much not on their plate...

Or maybe, just hypothetically, he was searching for an answer, because the answer he has, he could not make public.
This could mean "we have bikes not even on our plans" or "bikes a ready and will be released with the next patch, but I can't tease anything about it, I need an answer to the question without saying anything".
Sounds very trusty and positive, but it actually could be a possibility guys

 

[Civ5rako]

As long as a console release is a possibility they will keep this game alive. This is a big new revenue channel for Paradox and they have invested quite a lot in this it seems (1.5 year of porting, the whole mod platform etc).

But that's exactly the point: you expect a certain ROI in terms of percentage for your investment. The more expensive your development gets, the bigger the return has to be to meet your initial investment plans.
As even the consoles market is only a limited one and the city builder genre only being a small fraction of it, there will be the point when the market segment simply isn't big enough to give you that ROI.

Of course I don't know anything about PDX's internal calculations, but one can be said with certainty: each additional day of development makes a console version more unlikely.

 

[Maddini]

Or maybe, just hypothetically, he was searching for an answer, because the answer he has, he could not make public.
This could mean "we have bikes not even on our plans" or "bikes a ready and will be released with the next patch, but I can't tease anything about it, I need an answer to the question without saying anything".
Sounds very trusty and positive, but it actually could be a possibility guys

Would be great but to be honest, IF they would release bikes or some really good stuff with the next patch and IF they following the trends in the community they should make it public now and miss the surprise moment on March 18th.
I am not sure if it's only here (but seems pretty similiar at reddit) but the mood is changing in the community. But yeah maybe the idea of supporting CS1 more again is not bad, because it's better for CO that their customers go back to CS1 instead of leaving completely.

 

[Licenturion]

Would be great but to be honest, IF they would release bikes or some really good stuff with the next patch and IF they following the trends in the community they should make it public now and miss the surprise moment on March 18th.
I am not sure if it's only here (but seems pretty similiar at reddit) but the mood is changing in the community. But yeah maybe the idea of supporting CS1 more again is not bad, because it's better for CO that their customers go back to CS1 instead of leaving completely.

If that was the case: the moment to surprise and delight fans was on the anniversary yesterday and elevate the moment. Imagine all the positivity they would have gotten if they surprised revealed bikes that together with the trailer and announcements yesterday. Things would have gone down way differently. So I am not assuming there will be bikes next week. They already revealed the free anniversary assets, so that is probably it for next week.

 

[Purplizer]

This whole Anniversary debacle once more shows that for some reason, they do everything wrong communications wise.

So apparantly they made an announcement last week for ... an announcement on the anniversary. Seriously?!? You can do that if you're Rockstar teasing GTA. You can't do that after 16 months of replying "soon" to every single question. You're not building hype, you should be in crisis communications mode. And you still don't seem to get that.

And then I'm not even getting started about the cringy livestream. If you can't tell anything, don't do a livestream with live questions. It only leads to frustration.

So once again I beg you: get a communications strategist on board. You are fuelling the fire yourself.

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

This whole Anniversary debacle once more shows that for some reason, they do everything wrong communications wise.

So apparantly they made an announcement last week for ... an announcement on the anniversary. Seriously?!? You can do that if you're Rockstar teasing GTA. You can't do that after 16 months of replying "soon" to every single question. You're not building hype, you should be in crisis communications mode. And you still don't seem to get that.

And then I'm not even getting started about the cringy livestream. If you can't tell anything, don't do a livestream with live questions. It only leads to frustration.

So once again I beg you: get a communications strategist on board. You are fuelling the fire yourself.

Agreed. I don’t like to pile on, but at this point I think in the immediate future its more important to fix communication than to fix the game.

We haven’t received information of any substance in an extremely long time. The logical conclusion is that the game is dead. If that’s not the case, let us know by giving us some insight into the plans to fix things.

Victoria 3 and Civ 7 both had rocky releases, but the devs acknowledged the issues and gave roadmaps on how they planned to fix things. This generates patience and goodwill. Refusing to engage does exactly the opposite.

 

[Maddini]

If that was the case: the moment to surprise and delight fans was on the anniversary yesterday and elevate the moment. Imagine all the positivity they would have gotten if they surprised revealed bikes that together with the trailer and announcements yesterday. Things would have gone down way differently. So I am not assuming there will be bikes next week. They already revealed the free anniversary assets, so that is probably it for next week.

Yeah that it what i was trying to say but a little bit to complicated written by myself.

 

[RodrigoMileski]

"pre-order", "pre-release", "early access" and "subscription" terms in the gaming industry give me the jitters.

but the devs acknowledged the issues and gave roadmaps on how they planned to fix things. This generates patience and goodwill.

No it doesnt. It shouldnt even be an option; we should receive a full, complete and functional solution for what we paid for. Its like going to a restaurant and ordering pasta with meat sauce, getting just plain undercooked pasta with the waiter saying the sauce will come in 45 min and meat was pushed to Q2. You can also access the our website to buy some extra parmesan coins, that you can turn into parmesan cheese or new skin for your fkng plate. (gotta have microtransacitons, eh)

For example Civ 7, which was/is in development since 2021 (at least) and owned by one of the biggest companies out there, delivering a 1/4 done product with a 90$ Canadian tag it is disgusting, with or without a BS roadmap fix/finish the game. they even left placeholder variable names in the bloody UI bro. That is "udemy: how to make a game in 10 days" level mistake.

We cannot normalize the horrible current state of the gaming industry. Industry that is bigger in revenue numbers than Movies and Music COMBINED. Bloody taylor swift and avengers kinda of sht.

Almost forgot, it is almost happy "beach properties dlc" birthday too just in case someone forgot that circus ...

 

[unoace1006]

Would be great but to be honest, IF they would release bikes or some really good stuff with the next patch and IF they following the trends in the community they should make it public now and miss the surprise moment on March 18th.
I am not sure if it's only here (but seems pretty similiar at reddit) but the mood is changing in the community. But yeah maybe the idea of supporting CS1 more again is not bad, because it's better for CO that their customers go back to CS1 instead of leaving completely.

At some point, they will release bikes. But at the moment, reading between the lines, I don't think we're there yet. I hope I am wrong, of course. And I think you are right it would be very well received!

In the interim, they're improving things under the hood and that's not sexy, but it's can be very time consuming. We've gone through a few Unity Game Engine updates already and that's time consuming and you generally only do it if you have to. And it sounds like they're figuring out how to make different technologies work together or charting another path forward alltogether. I wouldn't be surprised if we more engine updates are made. Of course, I hope they get to the outcome ASAP, but I get it'll take however long it takes.

What's some other "good stuff" from your perspective? I know I've heard a lot about:

1. Bikes
2. Animations (of all sorts; i.e; firemen, hearses, parks, etc.)

But what else? What would be a huge crowd pleaser?

 

[BoraBora]

At some point, they will release bikes.

Or not.

What's some other "good stuff" from your perspective? I know I've heard a lot about:

1. Bikes
2. Animations (of all sorts; i.e; firemen, hearses, parks, etc.)

But what else? What would be a huge crowd pleaser?

Ir's the same list since 2023, repeated day after day: less bugs, fixed simulation mechanics, more optimization, the asset editor. And yes, bikes and animations. Oh and more honest communication. I'm only talking about the most obvious reasons so much people write a bad review on Steam.

 

[Mazisky]

Hopefully the game isn't dead.

Too many studios close for much less nowadays, maybe they can pull a No man's sky

 

[Dennis95]

Or not.


Ir's the same list since 2023, repeated day after day: less bugs, fixed simulation mechanics, more optimization, the asset editor. And yes, bikes and animations. Oh and more honest communication. I'm only talking about the most obvious reasons so much people write a bad review on Steam.

And reworked textures. I think most of those wishes will remain unfulfilled.

 

[Civ5rako]

Hopefully the game isn't dead.

Too many studios close for much less nowadays, maybe they can pull a No man's sky

Having hope is one thing and there's nothing bad about it.

But do you see any indication your wishes come true? I don't.

 

[Mazisky]

Having hope is one thing and there's nothing bad about it.

But do you see any indication your wishes come true? I don't.

My only indication is that Cities Skylines is the only game for Colossal Order and the biggest selling one for Paradox. Which means neither of them can afford to abandon it.

 

[Krazel]

Hopefully the game isn't dead.

Too many studios close for much less nowadays, maybe they can pull a No man's sky

Something funny about this comparison is No Man's Sky has never had one DLC or piece of paid content. Not One. Every update has been free and a recognition they want to improve their game for the players. That's why NMS is now overwhelmingly positive on steam. CO will never have this kind of turnaround because it's a fundamental way they look at their players - as a money tree.

Imagine if a game like BG3 had 30 DLC packs for different encounters/cosmetics in game. It could have been the highest revenue game of all time but instead, they made games for their players, not their wallets.

 

[Cardinal Herue]

Hey @Cities: Skylines Official , noticed you responded to other queries on this post so I wanted to ask: reading the announcement, the only detail regarding the patch is that it will include the birthday celebration assets.

Is that all? Are we able to expect any bug fixes, optimizations, or improvements to the simulation (deathcare, tourism, crime/police, public transit, etc.)?

Thanks for any info you can share!

 

[Civ5rako]

My only indication is that Cities Skylines is the only game for Colossal Order and the biggest selling one for Paradox. Which means neither of them can afford to abandon it.

I am sorry, but that is wrong.
PDX at least is an economically acting entity. They are trying to make money. Part of that attempt is they invest - and for that investment they expect a certain ROI. As soon as that ROI cannot be achieved, they will stop funding the development process.

Do I know when this point will be reached? Of course not. Nobody outside of PDX knows and in there, only the higher echelons, I would assume.

What I do know, what we all do know however is that the investment plan for CS2 has been an utter failure - because CO couldn't deliver.
They couldn't deliver during the three years being overdue.
They couldn't deliver during the one and half a year past that.
They can't deliver within the next three months, that has already been announced.

So, all indications are that the patience with them is running thin. Whatever goodwill CO once may have had, that is gone. Completely and since months.
And as soon as further sponsoring CO doesn't promise the above mentioned ROI anymore, PDX will just stop spending money. They can support much better, much more promising projects with the money then saved.

And CO? Well, they will close down then and be gone for good as they will never find any other publisher after this debacle.

 

[antoni0g]

Hey @Cities: Skylines Official , noticed you responded to other queries on this post so I wanted to ask: reading the announcement, the only detail regarding the patch is that it will include the birthday celebration assets.

Is that all? Are we able to expect any bug fixes, optimizations, or improvements to the simulation (deathcare, tourism, crime/police, public transit, etc.)?

Thanks for any info you can share!

Thats the problem with them everytime, they don't even need to say whats in the patch they just need to say ''it will contain new feauteres (or not), bug fixes and 10 new birthday assets'' but they prefer to keep radio silence so people keep speculating and sh**, I don't know whats the point on this miscommucation tbh