Cities Skylines 2 DLC being refunded and made free after being ‘rushed out’

18.04.2024 - 18:45 / videogameschronicle.com / Tom Ivan

Cities Skylines 2 DLC is being refunded and added to the base game for free after being “rushed out” in an unsatisfactory state.

Mariina Hallikainen, the CEO of developer Colossal Order, and Mattias Lilja, the deputy CEO of publisher Paradox Interactive, apologised to players for the latest in a series of disappointments in a forum post published on Thursday.

After Cities Skylines 2 was released for PC with various issues last October, Colossal Order said it was delaying the launch of DLC included in the game’s Ultimate Edition so that it could prioritise performance improvements and bug fixes.

It moved the launch of the game’s first asset pack, Beach Properties, from last year to the first quarter of 2024. Following its release on March 25, the DLC was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews by Steam players, with many criticising both the quality and the quantity of the content.

“We see and understand the disappointment many of you have expressed after the release of Cities: Skylines II and the recent release of Beach Properties,” Hallikainen and Lilja said in their joint statement released today.

“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.”

Players who bought the Beach Properties DLC standalone for $9.99/£8.49/€9.99 will be refunded and the content will be added to the base game for free.

Those who purchased the DLC as part of the game’s Ultimate Edition won’t receive a refund, but are instead being offered additional content at no extra charge.

“This is due to the distribution of the Ultimate Edition across digital and physical storefronts, which create significant complexities for executing a partial refund,” Hallikainen and Lilja said. “We realize that this is far from ideal, especially given the dedication those who have stayed with us since launch have shown.

“We are committed to repaying that loyalty, and therefore, we will compensate Ultimate Edition holders by adding 3 Creator Packs and 3 Radio Stations which, together, sum up to a value of USD 39.99. This solution hopefully ensures that you, regardless of purchase method, feel you receive fair compensation.”

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