After an eight-year wait, Colossal Order has finally announced Cities Skylines 2 is set to launch sometime in 2023, and it can be wishlisted on Steam now. The community of fans built by the original is already abuzz with what this sequel will entail, and Colossal Order is promising that Cities Skylines 2 will be the most realistic city builder ever, so hopefully it delivers.
While the sequel announcement is great, there is also a worry that Colossal Order will choose to strip out Cities Skylines content to launch later as Cities Skylines 2 DLC. The studio has expanded the first game with so many different packs, and it would be a shame if that content was cut from the sequel. Maxis' The Sims series may release a Seasons and Pets DLC for every Sims game, but Colossal Order does not have to follow suit with Cities Skylines content.
Cities Skylines 2 Should Launch With Every Cities Skylines DLC
Since 2015, Cities Skylines has seen a slew of expansion packs and smaller DLC releases adding new mechanics, building types, settings, and a handful of radio stations. A year has not gone by without a new DLC pack, and most years have seen multiple packs get released in different ways, helping create one of the most realistic and complex city builders around.
Colossal Order plans to take the series to the next level with Cities Skylines 2, and it cannot leave content behind in the first game. Players have invested a lot of time and money in Cities Skylines, and launching the sequel with less content than its predecessor would give current players little reason to move on. The second game should take everything that the first game currently has, and then expand upon that with future DLC and free updates.
A more recent example of a simulation game launching with less than its predecessor is Kerbal Space Program 2. The hotly anticipated follow-up to the popular space sim recently launched, and fans quickly discovered that it was missing a lot of the content from the first. The game also has numerous bugs and stability issues, to the extent that some Kerbal Space Program players have begun demanding refunds. This has pushed many potential buyers away, and has given the fanbase little reason to upgrade to the newest title.
Cities Skylines 2 cannot repeat the pitfalls of other major simulation games, and the easiest way to do that would be not cutting content. Everything that is currently in Cities Skylines should be carried over to Cities Skylines 2 upon release, including the ability to play with natural disasters, create green cities, build their own unique industrial zones, manage schools, and even host concerts. Instead of chopping up the first game for DLC to increase profits through nostalgia, Cites Skylines 2 should expand those mechanics and include them as base features.
Graphical upgrades are not everything, and players have spent too much time with Cities Skylines' DLC content to cut it all out of the game. Colossal Order needs to ensure that Cities Skylines 2 knocks it out of the park on launch, as it has a great opportunity to try and set a new standard for simulation sequels.
Cities Skylines 2 will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023.