Cities: Skylines 2’s launch back in 2023 was such a mess that performance woes completely overshadowed its systems and ideas, and for a long time the sequel was more meme than milestone. Although Colossal Order gradually stabilized the game and pushed it up to a 53% positive rating on Steam based on more than 55,600 reviews, that wasn’t enough to keep the partnership with Paradox Interactive alive – the publisher has now decided to hand the future of the series to a different team.

The change of direction was announced in an official post on the Paradox forums. While the statement never explicitly mentions the rocky debut of Cities: Skylines 2, its wording makes it clear that the strategy franchise is entering a new era. As Paradox puts it, “After more than a decade of successful collaboration across numerous titles of which we are both immensely proud, Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order have mutually decided to go their separate ways. This decision was made after careful consideration and in the best interests of both teams, ensuring the strongest possible future for the Cities: Skylines franchise.”

That doesn’t mean Cities: Skylines 2 is being abandoned. According to the announcement, development is being transferred to Iceflake Studios, Paradox’s internal team, which has already started digging into the game’s technical underpinnings. Iceflake will be responsible for all current and future work on Cities: Skylines 2, including free updates for the existing version, ongoing development of the Editor, the console edition, and future expansions and content packs. In other words, city-building fans can expect patches and new content for many years to come.

Colossal Order Turns Its Experience Toward New Projects

That leaves the question of what happens to Colossal Order. In an industry where studio closures have become alarmingly common, the original creator of Cities: Skylines is not being shut down. Paradox says the team will use its hard-won experience to pursue new projects and explore fresh creative opportunities rather than remain tied to its flagship series. Before stepping away completely, however, the studio still has one last round of updates planned for its city-builder.

As a parting gesture, Colossal Order is preparing the so-called Bicycle Patch, which will introduce new buildings, bug fixes, and broad quality-of-life improvements for Cities: Skylines 2. The update will be accompanied by a Beta implementation of resource support for the Editor, scheduled to arrive before the end of the year. If everything goes according to plan, Iceflake will fully take over the project at the beginning of 2026, carrying the future of Cities: Skylines 2 forward despite its infamously troubled start.

Source: 3djuegos