Cities: Skylines 2 shipped after its makers admitted it missed its performance target

Ars Technica reported in November 2023 that Cities: Skylines 2, from Colossal Order (about 30 employees) and publisher Paradox Interactive, launched on 24 October with serious performance problems. More than a week earlier the companies posted a statement that 'we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted', raised the minimum and recommended PC specs, and argued that 'releasing now is the best way forward'.

Most press reviewers noted severe performance issues, though many credited the warning and expected post-launch fixes. Gamers Nexus found frame rates fell by up to 60% as a city grew from 1,000 to 100,000 residents, and a patch two days after launch improved its tests by 5–12%; its host said they 'should have just waited the two days'. An outside developer's analysis found over-detailed assets without lower-detail versions and shadows taking 4,828 of 6,705 draw calls in one frame.

A game designer told Ars that the fourth quarter pressures publishers to ship before the financial year ends, since a slip can leave a division with expenses and no profit to offset them. Ars said the game looked rough next to its predecessor, which had accumulated eight years of fixes, DLC and mods.

Serious frame-rate problems at launch, up to a 60% drop as cities grew; a patch two days after release improved tests by 5–12%.

The game launched in the fourth quarter even though the companies said it had missed its performance target.

Custom low-level graphics code joined Unity's simulation and rendering but lacked culling and level-of-detail optimisations, per an outside developer.

Shadows consumed about 72% of draw calls in the frame the outside developer analysed.

Fans expected a rival to the first game, which had years of patches and mods, from a small studio under testing and calendar pressure.

Shipping a heavy simulation for the holiday quarter before it is optimised turns the launch into a technical-debt story you cannot patch away quickly.

Colossal Order and Paradox said they would keep optimising after reaching 30 fps on recommended hardware. Ars said that with continued patching the game could still improve, though it launched into a damaged reception.