The Way Forward, an update from the team behind Cities: Skylines

[waewren]

Thank you!

I appreciate the tone and transparency of this message and agree the priority should be on 1) bug fixes (to include fixing the simulation and economy to work as advertised) and 2) enable the community to distribute asset mods

As an Ultimate Edition buyer, I am happy with the 3 additional DLCs. The radio stations don’t matter much to me unless they come with new advertisements/commentary since the few in the base game quickly become repetitive. Speaking for myself, I appreciate the refund others will receive, the inclusion of Beach Properties DLC into the base game, and the additional DLCs for UE buyers. I am pleased to accept the olive branch with the same good faith spirit in which it has been offered. Thank you.

I left a less than favorable steam review after the disappointing beach properties DLC (it was the last straw for me…) and look forward to updating it to favorable when CO follows through on the promises here and gets then in-game economy bugs fixed.

Good luck and well wishes to the development team. I am one of many, many people who are rooting for you. We have high expectations because we know you are capable of delivering an exceptional product in the end. I am sure the development team shares my frustration with the schedule, but personally this type of message and action from CO encourages me to stick it out and keep rooting for the team to deliver on the grand vision of this game.

Warm regards,

Matt

 

[avguy2]

Finally taking some responsibility, pushing DLC and putting focus on fixing the base game! This is what players want to see. I've said it since the release, this game needs 6 to 12 more months development time at minimum.

But wow, the technical side/ code and optimization issues must be insanely bad! They didn't use the word, but basically what we have here is going back to a EA situation. It's still up in the air how CS:2 will turn out but this step could possibly save the game. But oh boy, does CO have their work cut out for them!

@CO & PD: You've talked the talk. Now I hope you can walk the walk.

 

[Hyperion Systems]

Thank you for this message. As a buyer of the Ultimate Edition I am looking forward to the 3 additional content creator packs and 3 radio stations.

I am in for the long term just like I was for Cities Skylines 1 and I really hope that you will succeed in making Cities Syklines II the worthy successor we all want to see.

 

[2smallpenguins]

Please keep the communication going i what to hear about and good and the bad just keep communicating silence lead to speculation.

 

[tweety80]

Youtubers have fan bases that they communicate and interact with frequently as part of their job, where they can hear people's opinions on aspects of the game.

Hiring or asking YouTubers is a risk.
Many consumers think that YouTubers are part of the initial "scam" and are responsible for the unrealistic expectations. Many YouTubers only pointed out the great stuff, and as a result, their image dropped to the bottom after the release.
Sure, NDAs were written to protect CO/PDX and ensure that only the working and good stuff was shown. But, YouTubers were part of the unrealistic advertising campaign.

Do YouTubers pay a high price for this? Yes, absolutely. Many of them only had Cities: Skylines content before CS2, and now they must look for other games. Even the biggest CS YouTubers have to do this.

Points for including them:
- They invested hundreds or thousands of hours and are very experienced players, it would be a waste to ignore it
- CO already had a good relationship with them in the past, so why not reactivate?

Points against:
- Their playstyle might not match what normal players do
- Their image is not great, and this may impact the focus and discussions
- Most YouTubers use highest-end hardware that is not representative of the average user
- Their interest is to make money with CS2 via videos, but that is not the same as playing for fun.

Maybe including one big YouTube influencer is good, but not many.

 

[gustavotoniato]

I would like to congratulate them for their attitude, it takes courage to admit mistakes. Even more courage to correct them. We all know that things didn't turn out the way we wanted, but my faith in you is renewed. I already think the game is fun even with the problems, and I'm sure that with this new path it will find its true potential.

 

[avguy2]

I would like to congratulate them for their attitude, it takes courage to admit mistakes. Even more courage to correct them. We all know that things didn't turn out the way we wanted, but my faith in you is renewed. I already think the game is fun even with the problems, and I'm sure that with this new path it will find its true potential.

It takes courage... or in some cases a whole lot of negative Steam reviews. lol

 

[Wade20]

I appreciate this response from CO / Paradox.

As someone playing CS2 regularly, what I really want to see prioritized is getting the base game systems working. High rent, broken buildings, broken economy, broken traffic behaviour, small homes malus triggering abandonments and collapses etc..

The 2nd priority would be improving CPU performance in larger cities. A specific focus on CPU resource drains in high population cities would be very helpful.

The last thing I would flag would be adding options for a hard mode without despawning, subsidies, externally provided city services etc. I think that would greatly increase the fun for more management focused players.

 

[_Labs]

The people in this group are chosen for the size of their following within the community to represent as many people as possible.

I might gain some negativity for this, but please for all that is CS2, don't let that include a youtuber who's name begins with B and ends with A.
CO may love their positivity, but "yes" people is not what this needs right now.

It takes courage... or in some cases a whole lot of negative Steam reviews. lol

 

[safe-keeper]

I'd be more fine with radio station compensation if the game would just remember to turn those godawful annoying ads off. Instead I'm forced to disable them manually every single time I start the game, it's a minor annoyance but it's one that's consistent every game.

Indeed, I wish there was an option to disable ads and blurbs. I've gone into my CS1 folder and deleted the files for them because I grew so tired of them. I know that's just me and that others enjoy them, so an option would be a great compromise.

 

[AndeP]

Dear Cities fans,

We see and understand the disappointment many of you have expressed after the release of Cities: Skylines II and the recent release of Beach Properties. We asked for your patience and support, and you’ve shown those. In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry. When we’ve made statements like this one before, it’s included a pledge to keep making improvements, and while we are working on these updates, they haven’t happened at a speed or magnitude that is acceptable, and it pains us that we've now lost the trust of many of you. We want to do better.

The very first thing we’re doing is to compensate those who purchased Beach Properties. We will change the pack to be a free addition to the game, refund it to the extent possible, and provide additional content within the Ultimate Edition. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to offer refunds for Ultimate Edition buyers. This is due to the distribution of the Ultimate Edition across digital and physical storefronts, which create significant complexities for executing a partial refund. We realize that this is far from ideal, especially given the dedication those who have stayed with us since launch have shown. We are committed to repaying that loyalty, and therefore, we will compensate Ultimate Edition holders by adding 3 Creator Packs and 3 Radio Stations which, together, sum up to a value of USD 39.99. This solution hopefully ensures that you, regardless of purchase method, feel you receive fair compensation.

Looking ahead, we also want to make immediate and meaningful changes in the way we approach the game’s development and our communication with you. Firstly, this means a complete focus on improving the base game and modding tools, and secondly, we want to better involve you, the community, as we choose our priorities going forward. We will focus on additional free patches and game updates in the coming months before Colossal Order spends time on new paid content, resulting in a move of the Bridges and Ports Expansion to 2025. In addition, the aforementioned Creator Packs are being produced independently, and will not take any focus away from the work on improving the game. To make sure we focus on the right things, we’re putting together an advisory meeting, where a small group of player representatives, together with Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive, will discuss the development plan for this year. The people in this group are chosen for the size of their following within the community to represent as many people as possible. The teams from Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive will provide them with full transparency and answer any questions and critiques voiced. Our hope is that together with you, our community, we can make sure that we do not repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past and bring this game into a bright future.

We also want to address the pending Console release. As you know, our plan was to release in Spring of this year. We have been hesitant to communicate an actual release window because of the uncertainty we are facing, and to not make further promises we might not be able to keep. We have been struggling to get Cities: Skylines II to the necessary level of optimization for a console release, but are now hopeful that an upcoming build delivery in April will demonstrate sufficient progress for us to progress with a release candidate, and then a release build targeted for October. Before we have seen and evaluated the progress made in these builds however, we will not be able to confirm the release date, and even then, some uncertainty always remains. Our ambition is to deliver the experience that you all deserved at launch, but it will take time. It’s important to note that the team working on the console release operates separately from our PC development team, so it will be progressing without splitting our focus or time.

In closing, we want to reaffirm our dedication to making Cities: Skylines II the best city builder it can be. We appreciate your support and feedback, and hope we can regain your trust going forward. It’s our responsibility to earn it, and we hope these actions are a first step in the right direction.
We are deeply grateful for your continued passion for our game. Please stay tuned for further updates on the game and the refund process, and thank you for being a part of our community.

Sincerely,
Mariina Hallikainen
CEO, Colossal Order

Mattias Lilja
Deputy CEO, Paradox Interactive

---

We have created an FAQ Page with information on how your refunds will be processed and further information about release timelines.

Totally knew you were never going to hit spring for console, and I'm nowhere near your development team. Tbh, you are better off shelving it and making remastered better until you have CS2 in a good state, rather than for the next 2 years keep moving the goalposts in the Vail of agile development.

I and others do appreciate the transparency shown finally. However, having been a console edition ultimate early access purchaser who wasn't offered any compensation for the handling of the release, I'm finding the offer of free DLCs a bit of a kick in the teeth. Unless of course it is going to also apply to the console community when you finally do get it released, which I think we deserve at least!

Thanks

 

[KyoLo the major]

Humble suggestion for which YouTuber select for the brainstorming meeting (not sponsoring CS2 and dropped as soon as it was not playable, but however with vast experience on many city buildings games which may bring fresh air):

- IlGattoSulTubo
https://m.twitch.tv/ilgattosultubo https://youtube.com/@ilGattoSulTubo?si=bi3Q5jB-k6R-c90J

- ParliamodiVideogiochi

Parliamo di Videogiochi

Benvenuti su PARLIAMO DI VIDEOGIOCHI, che si parli di Giochi da Sala anni 70 o Realtà Virtuale, che si trattino Giochi Seri o Giochi Brutti, il videogioco è bello e va esplorato in ogni sua forma e aspetto!

youtube.com

Thank you!

 

[cvatanen]

I appreciate the honesty, thank you.
So, with the advisory council idea. However I think we might end up with too many ideas. My question is what type of game is CS2? You said city builder? Ok, what does that mean? I'm not being dense here, bear with me.
Ok, a pure city simulation? A notice a lot of people want a game where decisions matter. Should I build a new high school now, or do I need to focus on roads? Can the budget handle both options? For some people this is what they want.
Or for some people they like to design the city but not have to worry about the actual decisions. They want a city painter. This is why I play the game mostly. Prop line tool is a must have feature, as well as the ability to add props. I feel this way because eventually we'll all play the game the same way. In CS1 I put my taxes to 12% and forgot about them. Then after awhile I made more money than I could use. I didn't mind that. I enjoyed creating new cities with new layouts. That's me though. Others may vary.
Ideally the answer would be both options. Is this possible?
Regardless I am happy with what you wrote to us today. I look forward to more clear communication, the reasoning behind decisions going forward.

 

[TripleAgent]

Indeed, I wish there was an option to disable ads and blurbs. I've gone into my CS1 folder and deleted the files for them because I grew so tired of them. I know that's just me and that others enjoy them, so an option would be a great compromise.

It's bizarre that there's an option in the options menu to turn off the radio entirely but not ads, that has to be toggled every. single. time. I may use your solution, I'm a bit tired of randomly hearing about real estate shortages, yerba mate, and annoying fake German scientist accents.

 

[Mazisky]

Good stuff.

As a owner of the Ultimate Edition I don't care about refunds or compensations, all I care is to have a fully finished and polished game with all the features working as intended and missing stuff (animations, harder mode, etc.) in place.

That's all it needs to win back the community.

 

[zebez]

More words. I guess its starting to hit financially

 

[edumato]

Wow. This is great...
Well obviously not great that we got here, but this statement has really got my hopes up that things are moving in the right direction. Thank you.

 

[Eliaslps]

Just thank you.
We appreciate your communication, I hope the game will be better very soon !

 

[Playboi14]

Dear Cities fans,

We see and understand the disappointment many of you have expressed after the release of Cities: Skylines II and the recent release of Beach Properties. We asked for your patience and support, and you’ve shown those. In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry. When we’ve made statements like this one before, it’s included a pledge to keep making improvements, and while we are working on these updates, they haven’t happened at a speed or magnitude that is acceptable, and it pains us that we've now lost the trust of many of you. We want to do better.

The very first thing we’re doing is to compensate those who purchased Beach Properties. We will change the pack to be a free addition to the game, refund it to the extent possible, and provide additional content within the Ultimate Edition. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to offer refunds for Ultimate Edition buyers. This is due to the distribution of the Ultimate Edition across digital and physical storefronts, which create significant complexities for executing a partial refund. We realize that this is far from ideal, especially given the dedication those who have stayed with us since launch have shown. We are committed to repaying that loyalty, and therefore, we will compensate Ultimate Edition holders by adding 3 Creator Packs and 3 Radio Stations which, together, sum up to a value of USD 39.99. This solution hopefully ensures that you, regardless of purchase method, feel you receive fair compensation.

Looking ahead, we also want to make immediate and meaningful changes in the way we approach the game’s development and our communication with you. Firstly, this means a complete focus on improving the base game and modding tools, and secondly, we want to better involve you, the community, as we choose our priorities going forward. We will focus on additional free patches and game updates in the coming months before Colossal Order spends time on new paid content, resulting in a move of the Bridges and Ports Expansion to 2025. In addition, the aforementioned Creator Packs are being produced independently, and will not take any focus away from the work on improving the game. To make sure we focus on the right things, we’re putting together an advisory meeting, where a small group of player representatives, together with Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive, will discuss the development plan for this year. The people in this group are chosen for the size of their following within the community to represent as many people as possible. The teams from Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive will provide them with full transparency and answer any questions and critiques voiced. Our hope is that together with you, our community, we can make sure that we do not repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past and bring this game into a bright future.

We also want to address the pending Console release. As you know, our plan was to release in Spring of this year. We have been hesitant to communicate an actual release window because of the uncertainty we are facing, and to not make further promises we might not be able to keep. We have been struggling to get Cities: Skylines II to the necessary level of optimization for a console release, but are now hopeful that an upcoming build delivery in April will demonstrate sufficient progress for us to progress with a release candidate, and then a release build targeted for October. Before we have seen and evaluated the progress made in these builds however, we will not be able to confirm the release date, and even then, some uncertainty always remains. Our ambition is to deliver the experience that you all deserved at launch, but it will take time. It’s important to note that the team working on the console release operates separately from our PC development team, so it will be progressing without splitting our focus or time.

In closing, we want to reaffirm our dedication to making Cities: Skylines II the best city builder it can be. We appreciate your support and feedback, and hope we can regain your trust going forward. It’s our responsibility to earn it, and we hope these actions are a first step in the right direction.
We are deeply grateful for your continued passion for our game. Please stay tuned for further updates on the game and the refund process, and thank you for being a part of our community.

Sincerely,
Mariina Hallikainen
CEO, Colossal Order

Mattias Lilja
Deputy CEO, Paradox Interactive

---

We have created an FAQ Page with information on how your refunds will be processed and further information about release timelines.

Thanks for the honest and upfront feedback. It's been painful to watch this whole saga from the beginning.

I hope you guys can pull this all together and get skylines 2 into shape. Having a strong, performant and feature rich base will help ensure DLC and expansions down the track are received better from the community.

Wish you guys all the best!

 

[Ar3mis]

As a console player I am both grateful and sad. Grateful that we will get the game the way it was meant to be released. Sad that I can’t play until the end of the year. But understand. Thank you for being honest.