Colossal Order's city-building simulator marks a decade of urban planning excellence with a substantial update that addresses player concerns while adding new content to celebrate the milestone. The latest patch brings significant improvements to Cities Skylines 2, potentially drawing back players who were disappointed with the sequel's initial release.
Anniversary Celebration Brings New Game Modes
The update introduces two distinct difficulty settings to accommodate different playstyles. For veterans seeking a challenge, the new Normal mode reduces initial funding, disables government support, and significantly decreases milestone rewards. Players will also need to pay maintenance costs for each map tile and face standard refund and relocation expenses. Conversely, the Easy mode caters to casual city planners by providing subsidies, increased starting capital, and six times more funding with each city expansion. This mode also features reduced pollution levels, free map tile maintenance, and higher refund returns when demolishing structures.
New Difficulty Settings:
- Easy Mode: More starting money, 6x milestone rewards, subsidies, lower pollution, free map tile maintenance
- Normal Mode: Less initial funding, no government support, reduced milestone rewards, standard refund costs, paid map tile maintenance
Major System Improvements:
- Enhanced garbage service building capacity
- Improved citizen pathfinding through multi-road connected parks
- Traffic intersection priority fixes
- Bus routing improvements
- Taxi boarding time optimization
- Detailed homelessness tracking and simulation
- Young adult housing behavior overhaul
Anniversary Content:
- 10 new "birthday parks"
- 6 DLC packs for Ultimate Edition owners (3 radio stations, 3 Creator Packs)
- Bundle price for non-Ultimate Edition owners: Under USD$25
Traffic System Improvements Address Long-Standing Issues
Traffic management, a persistent challenge in Cities Skylines 2, receives substantial attention in this update. The patch improves vehicle prioritization at intersections, giving cars blocking traffic the priority to exit, potentially reducing those frustrating gridlocks caused by single vehicles. Bus routing has been refined to eliminate unexpected U-turns after leaving stops, and taxi boarding times have been optimized to improve flow on main roads. Additionally, citizen pathfinding now allows pedestrians to navigate through parks connected to multiple roads, creating more realistic movement patterns throughout the city.
Homelessness Simulation Overhaul
Perhaps the most significant improvement comes to the game's homelessness mechanics, which previously felt disconnected from player actions. The update adds a dedicated section in the Population View panel that provides detailed information about homeless citizens, including their employment status. This allows mayors to make more informed decisions—building affordable housing for employed homeless citizens or creating job opportunities for unemployed ones.
The simulation now features more realistic young adult behavior. Rather than immediately moving out and potentially becoming homeless, young adults will remain with their parents until securing employment. They'll contribute financially to their household until accumulating sufficient starting money to move out. Even then, they'll evaluate housing availability before leaving—if affordable options aren't available, they may leave the city entirely and become commuters instead.
Birthday Parks and Free Content
To commemorate the series' tenth anniversary, the update includes ten new birthday parks for players to incorporate into their cities. Additionally, Ultimate Edition owners receive six new DLC packs at no extra charge, including three radio stations (Atmospheric Piano, Jade Road, and Feelgood Funk) and three Creator Packs featuring Mediterranean buildings, traditional Chinese architecture, and leisure venues like tea lounges and esports arenas. Players without the Ultimate Edition can purchase these additions as a bundle for under USD$25.
Looking Ahead
While Cities Skylines 2 continues to improve with each update, it still struggles to surpass its predecessor's popularity, maintaining a Mixed rating on Steam with only 53% positive reviews. The original Cities Skylines will be free to play from March 20 to March 24 as part of the anniversary celebration, giving newcomers a chance to experience where the journey began.
The asset editor, a highly requested feature, remains under development, with Colossal Order acknowledging it has proven more technically challenging than initially anticipated. As the development team continues addressing player feedback and adding new content, the question remains whether Cities Skylines 2 will eventually emerge from the shadow of its beloved predecessor.