Cities: Skylines II rises towards release in 2023

Just a shortly before the official 8-year anniversary of the original Cities: Skylines, developer Colossal Order has formally revealed its long-awaited sequel, Cities: Skylines II. The new city builder, described as being a “next-generation” entry, is said to be “the most realistic city simulation ever created.” While no release date is available yet, Cities: Skylines II is schedule to arrive “later this year.”

Raise the high-rises

Colossal Order practically cornered the city builder sub-genre of sims with the original Cities: Skylines. It’s been supporting the sim throughout its near-decade run on the market so far with a wealth of official expansions and a bright spotlight on community mods. Thus, the new sequel has a very big foundation to fill.

The studio pitches Cities: Skylines II as offering players the ability to “build any kind of city they can imagine and follow its growth from a humble village to a bustling metropolis.” Just like its predecessor, builders will be able to take the reigns of their virtual settlement’s layout, transport system, and economy. It’s set to offer “a deep and immersive simulation that welcomes both new and veteran players.”

Cities: Skylines II heads to a 2023 release window

Cities: Skylines II is set to offer a variety of different construction and customization options for every aspect of city building and planning. The game will follow in its predecessor’s footsteps by allowing players to work mods into their game with ease.

With this set to be the “most open-ended city-building sandbox on the planet,” as Colossal describes it, Cities Skylines II is shaping up to promise a lot. Of course, the question is: can it deliver on those promises? Eight years worth of expansions and extensive mod support have bolstered the capabilities of the original Cities: Skylines. Its sequel now has to take all of that progress and run with it for miles to really live up to those lofty projections.

Cities: Skylines II is set to open for business later in 2023, and more info can be found on its Steam page.