Paradox apologizes for up to date Cities: Skylines 2 boondoggle, will give refunds for the Seaside Properties DLC: ‘[We] hope we will regain your belief going ahead’

The primary post-launch DLC for Cities: Skylines 2, Seaside Properties, arrived in March, and it didn’t go properly. Gamers already irritated by the state of the sport felt the DLC—an asset pack, with no new options—wasn’t price its $10/£8.49 worth, and predictably a brand new wave of adverse evaluations flowed into Steam. The Seaside Properties DLC itself is rated as “overwhelmingly adverse,” with simply 4% optimistic consumer evaluations on Steam.

Three weeks after its launch, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen and Paradox deputy CEO Mattias Lilja have launched a joint assertion apologizing for, properly, just about all the things actually, and promising a do-over on the Seaside Properties DLC by giving a refund to most gamers who purchased it and making it free for all gamers. Those that received the DLC as a part of the Cities: Skylines 2 Final Version is not going to be given a refund due to the “important complexities” concerned in issuing a partial refund; as a substitute, they’re going to be given three Creator Packs and three radio stations with a collective worth of $40 which can be anticipated to be prepared close to the tip of 2024.

“Trying forward, we additionally need to make instant and significant modifications in the way in which we strategy the sport’s improvement and our communication with you,” Hallikainen and Lilja stated. “Firstly, this implies a whole give attention to enhancing the bottom recreation and modding instruments, and secondly, we need to higher contain you, the group, as we select our priorities going ahead.”

To that finish, Paradox and Colossal Order may have an “advisory assembly” with a small group of participant representatives, “chosen for the dimensions of their following inside the group to signify as many individuals as doable,” to debate the plan for the rest of 2024. “The groups from Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive will present them with full transparency and reply any questions and critiques voiced. Our hope is that along with you, our group, we will guarantee that we don’t repeat the identical errors now we have made previously and produce this recreation right into a vivid future.”

In a means, that promised assembly with Cities: Skylines 2 influencers could possibly be seen as one thing of a turnaround for Colossal Order: In January Hallikainen warned that more and more poisonous habits amongst gamers might drive builders to “pull again” from partaking with the group. On the identical time, Hallikainen additionally expressed hope that “we will all work collectively for our devs to have the ability to keep and be repeatedly lively,” so maybe her warning was heeded.

Extra virtually, the change means the upcoming Bridges and Ports growth has been delayed to someday in 2025. The console launch of Cities: Skylines 2 has additionally been delayed, however for unrelated (however familiar-sounding) causes: Builders have been “struggling to get Cities: Skylines 2 to the required stage of optimization,” and so as a substitute of launching this spring the hope now could be to have it prepared for October. Hallikainen and Lilja famous that the console improvement staff is separate from the PC staff, so issues on that entrance will not influence the PC plan.

“In closing, we need to reaffirm our dedication to creating Cities: Skylines 2 the perfect metropolis builder it may be,” the message concludes. “We respect your assist and suggestions, and hope we will regain your belief going ahead. It’s our duty to earn it, and we hope these actions are a primary step in the correct route.”

The early response to the assertion is usually optimistic. On Steam and Reddit, there’s some anger over how Paradox and Colossal Order have botched Cities: Skylines 2 to this point, and an comprehensible sentiment that speak is affordable, however there’s additionally some clear hope that perhaps that is the place all of it lastly will get rotated. 

The massive problem dealing with Paradox and Colossal is that they completely did botch Cities: Skylines 2, badly, and speak may be very low-cost. In October 2023, the day after it launched, Colossal Order stated the sport’s efficiency points “aren’t deeply rooted within the recreation’s basis,” after which a pair weeks later the studio promised to not launch any paid DLC till “efficiency points are mounted.” But these points have persevered: Publish-launch patches have improved efficiency, but it surely’s nonetheless not nice for lots of gamers. 

Worse, although, is the unimaginable lack of goodwill that is resulted from all of this. Cities: Skylines is a highly-regarded metropolis builder with a devoted group that continues to draw 1000’s of gamers per day. The sequel, nevertheless, has been a multitude from the very begin, and appears to only hold getting worse. The numbers inform the story: Cities: Skylines 2’s peak concurrent participant depend is over 104,000, almost double that of the primary recreation, however the present concurrent participant depend is simply over 6,000—lower than half the variety of individuals at present enjoying Cities: Skylines. There have been clearly lots of people desperate to play the brand new recreation, however the dropoff has been sudden and important.

That is going to make it even tougher for Cities: Skylines 2 to drag a redemption 180 within the model of No Man’s Sky or Cyberpunk 2077. There’s nonetheless room for it to occur, however there is no query at this level that the outlet to climb out of is deeper than it wanted to be. 

An FAQ on refunds and the brand new improvement timeline for future Cities: Skylines 2 content material is up now on the Paradox boards.