Cities Skylines 2 Dev Delays Expansion Pass DLC to Fix the PC Version, Apologises

Embattled city-builder Cities Skylines 2 has suffered another setback, this time to the planned release of DLC.

Developer Colossal Order today confirmed a delay to the Expansion Pass post-launch content so it can focus on much-needed performance improvements and the already delayed Mod Editor.

The first Asset Pack release, initially due out during the fourth quarter of 2023, is now due out during the first quarter of 2024. The Content Creator Packs, initially planned for Q1 2024, are now due Q2 2024. The three DLC radio stations are also delayed. Expansion Bridges and Ports remains on-track for Q2 2024, however.

In a blog post, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen apologised for the delays, insisting “once the PC version is where we want it to be, we will be focusing on the console release and DLC content”. The console version of Cities Skylines 2 is due out at some point during the first half of 2024.

“We are committed to bringing the marketed DLC content to you, but it will not be landing in the originally promoted schedule,” Hallikainen continued. “The first Asset Pack, Beach Properties, has been worked on by our artists’ and our outsourcing partner, but we’ll only implement them after the asset fix and performance work are completed to our satisfaction. I apologize for the delay, but we must not rush new content out before the base is ready for it. This also stands for the Content Creator Packs and Radio stations.”

Last week, Colossal Order confirmed a significant delay to official mod support, and announced the slowdown of patch releases. The city builder, which launched on Steam to a ‘mixed’ user review rating last month, does not currently have official mod support or the expected in-game editor. Without an asset import feature, mod makers are unable to import their own assets into the game. The original Cities Skylines enjoyed strong support from the modding community.

Cities Skylines 2 has endured a tumultuous release. In the month preceding launch, Colossal Order and publisher Paradox announced the Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5 versions of the game were delayed to spring 2024 in order to allow the developers more time to match “quality and performance across all platforms.”

The minimum and recommended PC specs were also raised significantly to account for the game’s “next-generation” features and to allow for “a better player experience”. In a subsequent joint statement Colossal Order and Paradox admitted they had “not achieved the benchmark” targeted for launch performance on PC, but stuck to the planned release date anyway.

Despite the warning, Cities: Skylines 2 surpassed 100,000 concurrent players on Steam on launch day as it soared to the top of the storefront’s best-sellers chart. However, a great many of these players were left frustrated by the game’s foreshadowed poor performance, along with a number of bugs, which Colossal Order has worked to fix in the weeks since.

Earlier this month, Hallikainen questioned the reaction from some within the Cities Skylines community after the developer patched out an in-game radio advert it had deemed offensive.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.