Cities: Skylines 2 has bigger cities and will release this October
First gameplay trailer below
Cities: Skylines 2 was revealed a few months ago, but with only a CG trailer and not many details. Now there's a new in-game trailer and at least a vague sense of what the citybuilding sequel will do differently than its venerable, many DLC'd predecessor. Mainly: bigger cities, more simulated cities, prettier cities.
It also brought news of a release date: October 24th.
From the trailer alone, I don't immediately see what makes this a sequel-sized step-up from the original, bar it being a little more realistic visually. A press release offers more detail, however. Cities: Skylines 2 simulated the economy such that your choice "have ripple effects across the city." Each citizen of your metropolis now also has a life of their own, with an "occupation, household, relationships and more."
The idea is that you can select a particular peep and then follow how your changes impacted their life. There are no particular examples given, but I always enjoyed dropping Sims into SimCity 4 so I could track them as they moved from house to house, had kids, and passed away.
Maps are also new dynamic, with cities built in different areas having their own "challenges, climate, and opportunities."
It's still a little light on detail and I wish there were practical examples of how changes to the simulation affect the decision you make when zoning or constructing roads. Ultimately, though, I don't need this to be hugely different or a massive advance on the original Cities: Skylines. If it can do bigger cities - and apparently it can - that's reason enough for me to pop my mayor hat back on.
Cities: Skylines 2 will launch October 24th and there's a Steam page if you want to see more screenshots.
NotE3 and Summer Game Fest 2023 is over for another year. You can find out all the latest news by visiting our E3 2023 hub, or you can catch up with our round-up posts of everything that was announced at Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Games Showcase, the PC Gaming Show, Day Of The Devs, and our top highlights from the Wholesome Direct.