Cities Skylines 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the beloved city-building simulation game, was expected to be a monumental leap forward. However, since its November 2023 launch, the game has been marred by persistent bugs, a concerning lack of innovative features, and severe performance issues, leaving many players and content creators expressing their profound disappointment and frustration, deeming it a rushed and incomplete product.
One of the most jarring issues in Cities Skylines 2 is the presence of flickering and jagged shadows, particularly noticeable during nighttime gameplay, which not only detract from the game’s visual appeal, creating an unnatural, dreamlike aesthetic, but also negatively impact its stability and overall performance. While the developers are reportedly aware of this problem and working on a fix, there’s no clear timeline for its resolution, and player attempts to improve shadows through graphics settings or mods have so far proven unsuccessful.
Another significant concern for a large portion of the player base is the apparent lack of new content and features in Cities Skylines 2, with many feeling it’s largely a rehash of the original game, offering only minor tweaks and adjustments. The core gameplay, visuals, and level of realism haven’t seen substantial evolution, and it surprisingly still utilizes the same game engine and user interface; furthermore, certain beloved elements from the first game, such as scenarios, custom maps, and natural disasters, are conspicuously absent, making the game feel more like a step backward than a true upgrade, as highlighted by Game8.
The game has also faced substantial criticism from its dedicated community of players and content creators regarding its poor optimization, demanding high-end computer hardware to run smoothly, which has led to widespread frustration. Despite powerful processors, players are experiencing significant issues like low frame rates, stuttering, frequent crashes, and memory leaks, adding to the disappointment. The game’s hefty storage requirement of over 100 GB also raises questions about its efficiency, especially since it doesn’t seem to leverage modern hardware capabilities effectively and lacks support for advanced features like HDR, DLSS, or ray tracing. Additionally, compatibility problems with existing mods and assets from the original game further restrict players’ customization options.
Several prominent figures in the city-building game community have openly expressed their dissatisfaction with Cities Skylines 2, urging the developers to address the existing issues and seriously consider player feedback. For instance, Biffa, a popular city-building streamer and YouTuber, stated in a video that he felt ‘cheated’ by the game’s creators and that the current state of the game was an ‘insult’ to him, strongly advising against purchasing it due to its lack of value and announcing his intention to refrain from playing until fixes are implemented, opting instead to focus on other titles.
Content creator ImperialJedi, another highly respected figure in the city-building genre, shared his disappointment in a video, remarking that while the game presented high-level potential, it ultimately felt like a missed opportunity rather than something truly special, requiring considerable refinement and effort to truly shine. He emphasized that the game is ‘full of potential’ but expressed a strong desire for the developers to dedicate more work to improving it and introducing additional content.
Many enthusiasts eagerly anticipated Cities Skylines 2, but the reality of its release has left a significant portion of the player base feeling let down and frustrated, with many demanding substantial updates and improvements to enhance the gameplay experience. For the game to truly succeed, its developers must be highly attentive to the suggestions and criticisms offered by players and content creators; failure to do so risks eroding the trust and loyalty of their fanbase, ultimately damaging the long-term reputation and success of the entire franchise.
