Cities: Skylines 2 just hit another bump in the road as Paradox announced that its upcoming two Creator Packs and the Bridges and Ports Expansion have both been delayed so the team can focus more on improving the base game.
As part of the ongoing damage control for Cities: Skylines 2 after a launch riddled with performance issues, it seems like Paradox is trying to be as open as possible when it comes to hiccups in release timelines or bug fixes. "We wanted to take a moment to update you on the status of our upcoming releases," the Cities Team says in a blog post. "We know many of you are excited about new content, and we want to be transparent about where things currently stand."
Despite the two Creator Packs, Modern Architecture and Urban Promenades, apparently having been completed, the decision has been made to push the release back to Q4 this year as work on the Asset Editor has been slightly problematic. This will also affect the subsequent release of Bridges and Ports expansion, which is set to come out sometime in Q2 2025.
"The Asset Editor has presented us with more challenges than we expected, but we're making good progress and have been sharing updated builds with the modding beta group, so they can get familiar with the Editor and provide feedback on its functionality," Colossal Order says in a blog post. "While we have done some initial testing of the importing, saving, and sharing processes, more work is needed before we can release the beta version of the Editor for public use.
Before the developer can release the Asset Editor, serialisation and Virtual Texturing have to be finalised first. "Serialisation is the process that turns meshes, textures, and asset information into an easily shareable file, similar to the .cok files that are created when saving maps," the developer continues. "Virtual Texturing plays a key role in optimisation as it reduces GPU memory usage. Once these are ready, we can finalise the asset side of the Editor and set a timeline for its release. We know you're itching to have custom assets to help bring your city dreams to life, and we're equally excited to support the amazing asset creators in our community."
Alongside working on the Asset Editor, the developers have also been sifting through all the bug reports related to tourism, as hotels have apparently been popping up in places where they don't belong: "Once we have a fix ready, we'll share more information, similar to what we did with homelessness."
Otherwise, there is still a bit of work to be done on various bugs and issues that are reported by players. The devs emphasise how important it is for players to report every issue they encounter, especially crashes, as it makes it easier to identify problem spots.
"While our focus is on the game, we still check in with discussions as often as we can and appreciate everything you share with us," Colossal Order says. "We are committed to making Cities: Skylines 2 the best game it can possibly be, and we'll keep working until we get there."
