Cities: Skylines II

Cities: Skylines II is the sequel to Cities: Skylines and a city-building and management game in which you develop a settlement from the first roads to a metropolis. Traffic, zones, public services, economy, environment and individual citizens are all linked.

The simulation relies more than its predecessor on long-term interactions: households have incomes and needs, businesses produce and trade goods, traffic flows respond to costs and travel times, and climate and seasons influence city development.

The PC version of Cities: Skylines II was released on October 24, 2023 via Steam, the Microsoft Store and PC Game Pass. Since early 2026, Iceflake Studios has continued ongoing development.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S were originally announced, but have not been released so far. When the developer changed at the end of 2025, Paradox stated that Iceflake would also take over further work on the console versions.

Currently, PC is the only native platform released. The PC version is available via Steam and the Microsoft Store and supports Paradox Mods.

Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S were already mentioned at the original announcement, but still have no release date. They are therefore not considered available platforms.

The core consists of free city building with road tools, zones, power and water supply, public services, taxes, production and trade. An expanded traffic model takes into account, among other things, travel time and costs, while citizens have their own life stories with home, work, family and well-being.

Progress runs through milestones and development trees. Maps feature climate and biomes; weather, seasons, pollution and economic consequences change the conditions under which a city grows.

Among the major expansions is Bridges & Ports, which adds movable bridges, customizable harbors, ferries and additional maritime industries.

With Expansion Pass 2, the first major content wave under Iceflake Studios began in 2026. The pass includes, among other things, a modular parking system, a revised tourism economy, additional commercial and residential buildings and new infrastructure for emergency services.

The PC version requires 64-bit Windows. Steam lists a minimum of an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, 8 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 480, among others. Significantly stronger CPUs, 16 GB RAM and an RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT are recommended.

Paradox Mods is integrated directly into Cities: Skylines II. Since March 2024, map and code mods can be created, shared and organized into playsets via the platform. The editor and asset tools will continue to be developed as a long-term part of the game.

Colossal Order developed Cities: Skylines II and released the game in 2023 together with Paradox Interactive. At the end of 2025, the long-time partners parted ways for future projects. Iceflake Studios took over all ongoing work on Cities: Skylines II in early 2026 – including updates, the editor, console versions and new expansions.