Cities Skylines 2 Dev Refunds DLC, Admits It Rushed It Out, and Apologizes to Disgruntled Players

ign.com:

The developer of PC city builder Cities Skylines 2 has offered refunds for the game’s latest DLC amid a backlash from players over the state of the game.

Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of developer Colossal Order, and Mattias Lilja, deputy CEO of publisher Paradox, issued a joint statement that included a frank admission: that the heavily criticized Beach Properties DLC was rushed out in a bid to improve sentiment around the disastrous launch of Cities Skylines 2.

Colossal Order’s troubled city-builder sequel launched in October 2023 on PC via Steam and immediately ran into a number of issues. Player sentiment turned a ‘mixed’ Steam user review rating into ‘mostly negative’ for recent reviews, with the first Cities Skylines game currently enjoying more players than its sequel. Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen later admitted the lack of modding support was the developer’s “biggest regret.”

But the recent release of the Beach Properties DLC for $9.99 or as part of the Cities: Skylines 2 Waterfronts Expansion Pass or Ultimate Edition sparked an even greater backlash, with players criticizing the asset pack for not even including beaches. As you’d expect, the DLC has an overwhelming negative user review rating on Steam.

Now, Hallikainen and Lilja have addressed the community in a statement that admits a number of failings at the developer. It is published in its entirety below:

In summary, those who bought the Beach Properties DLC will get a refund, but those who own the Ultimate Edition will not. Instead, Ultimate Edition owners get three Creator Packs and three Radio Stations which, Paradox believes, amount to the value of $39.99. No timeline for their release was offered. The Beach Properties DLC will be made free, although at the time of this article's publication it remains $9.99. The Bridges and Ports DLC is delayed to 2025. Elsewhere, the console version of Cities Skylines 2 is delayed once again, now to October.

Cities: Skylines 2’s problems began before its launch