More trouble over "Cities Skylines 2": Developers have to apologize again

More trouble over "Cities Skylines 2": The developer studio Colossal Order felt compelled to issue another apology to **players** due to scathing criticism of the "Beach Properties" DLC. "We see and understand the disappointment that many of you have expressed," wrote CEO duo Mariina Hallikainen and Mattias Lilja in a joint forum post. "We asked for your patience and support, and you gave it to us. In return, we have disappointed you."

At issue is the "Beach Properties" DLC released in March, which holds a remarkably poor user rating of 4 percent on Steam. The add-on was criticized for its high price of 10 euros - mainly because the main game still suffers from numerous performance problems, bugs and missing features. The community is angry because Colossal Order is apparently prioritizing DLC development before the main game is sufficiently improved.

"We are truly sorry"

"We have launched a DLC that should not have been released in its current form. We are truly sorry for all of this," the CEO team writes in the forum post. The request for an apology is accompanied by concrete measures: anyone who has purchased "Beach Properties" will get their money back. Meanwhile, the DLC package will be converted into a free game expansion that all buyers of "Cities Skylines 2" will have access to. The Ultimate Edition will also be supplemented by several additional packages in the future.

Colossal Order also promises to focus on the further developing of the main game for the foreseeable future. "We will focus on additional free patches and game updates in the coming months before spending time on new paid content," write the CEOs.

Repeated apologies

"Beach Properties" is an "asset pack" consisting solely of additional models and textures for certain buildings. The teams working on such asset packs are not necessarily the same teams that fix bugs and program game features. Nevertheless, the release of a DLC while the main game is still suffering from numerous problems has caused understandable anger in the community.

This is not the first time that Colossal Order has apologized for the state of "Cities Skylines 2". Last November, shortly after release, the developers had to justify the poor technical state of the game. "Although our team worked tirelessly to deliver the best possible experience, we did not reach the benchmark we were aiming for," the studio wrote. This apology was accompanied by the promise that DLCs would only be released once the main game was up to par.

(dahe)