Cities: Skylines 2 devs apologise for "rushed" DLC, offer refunds, promise conciliatory fan summit

While Cities: Skylines 2 has made progress on the performance front, not everything about the troubled citybuilder is on the up. In fact, player reception to the recently released Beach Properties DLC has proven so un-sunny that both developers Colossal Order and publishers Paradox Interactive have issued a joint statement apologising for the state it launched in.

The letter, addressed to Cities fans and signed by Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen and Paradox Interactive deputy CEO Mattias Lilja, also promises refunds for anyone who bought Beach Properties. Or, in the case of those who got it through snapping up Skylines 2’s Ultimate Edition, compensation in the form of three Creator Packs and three radio stations. The contentious DLC is also going free to anyone who’s yet to put money down.

"We see and understand the disappointment many of you have expressed after the release of Cities: Skylines 2 and the recent release of Beach Properties," the statement reads. "We asked for your patience and support, and you’ve shown those. In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry. When we’ve made statements like this one before, it’s included a pledge to keep making improvements, and while we are working on these updates, they haven’t happened at a speed or magnitude that is acceptable, and it pains us that we've now lost the trust of many of you. We want to do better."

As the game’s first big DLC since its equally ire-attracting launch, Beach Properties was meant to mark a back-on-track moment of sorts. Instead, its lack of scope was roundly criticised: despite costing £8.49 / $10, it was a mere asset pack rather than a true expansion, lacking any new features outside of a handful of new buildings and plantable foliage. None of which, strangely enough, resembled an actual beach house. The simultaneous release of much-demanded mod tools for Skylines 2 may have calmed the waters, but these too were relatively skeletal, lacking the ability to import new assets.

Yikes, basically. If you’ve been the victim of underwhelming beach-themed DLC and it wasn’t your fault, consult Paradox’s FAQ on the particulars of getting that refund.

The apology statement also commits to making "immediate and meaningful changes in the way we approach the game’s development and our communication with you," starting with a "complete focus on improving the base game and modding tools." That means the Bridges and Ports expansion, previously tipped for later this year, is now delayed into 2025. A "advisory meeting" is also being planned, where a select few Cities enthusiasts will get to grill Colossal Order on Skylines 2 and discuss potential improvements.

There may be hope yet for Skylines 2, then, though more cynical players may point towards previous self-admonishments that failed to prevent Beach Properties arriving as it did. Personally I’ve no horse in this horse fight, though will cop to some embarrassment that all this happened a single day after I wrote that post saying performance was getting better. I was staying in my lane! Please don’t thrash me soundly with palm tree branches!