It's a tricky time to be a PC gamer. The platform offers more games spanning more genres than ever before, and even standard PC hardware can deliver crisp, photorealistic graphics. At the same time, some of the biggest titles in recent memory were an absolute disaster on PC at launch, like Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Red fallTHE Dead space And Resident Evil 4 remakes, and The Last of Us Part I. Unfortunately, it seems we can add Cities: Skylines II to this list – which means I look forward to the day when we can look back and say, “Man, remember when this game was broken? I'm glad Colossal Order fixed everything and presented its Apologies appropriately to his community.” At least, I hope that's what we'll say.
This week's stories
Microsoft, macro layoffs
Three months after finalizing the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft laid off 1,900 people in its Xbox, ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard divisions. This follows a wave of layoffs in the video games sector in recent months: last year, around 9,000 people in the industry were laid off and already in January, almost 6,000 jobs were lost. This is a legitimate crisis. Along with the layoffs, Microsoft officially canceled Odysseythe survival game that Blizzard had been working on for six years.
World Pal it's the spirit of the times
So far, 2024 is the year of World Pal. The game comes from a small team of beginners and it was billed as “Pokémon with guns”, although it looks more like Ark in terms of gameplay. Whatever reference you choose, World Pal is so popular that it ranks second in Steam's all-time concurrent player rankings, just behind PUBG. With all this attention, it was only a matter of time before Nintendo stepped in: Pokémon publisher investigates World Pal for potential copyright infringement, and we'll see how that plays out in the coming weeks.
Cities: Skylines II and toxicity
The original Cities: horizons was released in 2015 and devoured the audience left by EA SimCitywhich landed in 2013 and was a disaster. Cities: horizons scratched that urban planning itch, and over the years the developers at Colossal Order have worked closely with players to foster a thriving mod community on Steam Workshop. Mods, custom assets, and Let's Play videos have been a vital aspect of Cities: horizons' long-term success.
Last October, after months of marketing collaborations with content creators like Biffa and City Planner Plays, Cities: Skylines II came out – and it was a disappointment for many players. The game was initially presented as a simultaneous release on PC and console, but it is only available on PC and there is no concrete timetable for the release of other versions. There has been no news on a Mac or Linux launch. There is also no official support for mods Cities: Skylines II, and when this feature arrives, it will be via the game's publisher, Paradox, rather than Steam Workshop. On top of all that, Colossal Order increased the game's minimum and recommended PC specs just a month before release, and the new requirements made it unplayable for a large number of players. Even with efficient equipment, Cities: Skylines II is riddled with visual and mechanical bugs. Simply put, it feels like Colossal Order pulled a SimCity.
The studio rolls out updates regularly, and CEO Mariina Hallikainen acknowledged that the game is missing some promised and much-publicized features, like mod support. But in a recent note to the community, she said the conversation with players was becoming toxic and she called for civility. Hallikainen told Engadget that she has witnessed an increase in personal attacks against developers and other players on forums and on social media.
Community members like Philip, the man behind the City Planner Plays YouTube channel, were surprised to hear the word “toxicity.” He told Engadget he saw an increase in negativity and frustration from players, but not toxicity. For Philip and many other dedicated Cities: Skylines players, the returns have been justified. They want Colossal Order to take responsibility for the state of the release, say they're sorry, and provide a plan to make things right in the future. Maybe add some free in-game perks too.
Collaboration with the community is what made the original game successful, and the sequel could certainly benefit from participatory improvements. Hallikainen told Engadget that working with content creators and modders helped steer updates towards Cities: Skylines II after launch, and the studio still enjoys working with these players.
This is just the beginning for Cities: Skylines II. Colossal Order intends to support and expand the game over the next 10 years. The original Cities: horizons didn't have all the bells, whistles, and mods when it first released in 2015, and the sequel starts in a similar position. The Colossal Order sees Cities: Skylines II as a new base, but its core community expected a more well-rounded experience from the jump – especially people who paid $90 for the Ultimate Edition.
We saw headlines like No Man's Sky And Cyberpunk 2077 overcoming rough launches to become beloved games across the board, and Colossal Order has a strong track record of long-term support. However, options like early access and paid betas exist for a reason. At the very least, gamers should know whether they're spending money to play a new game or to help complete it.
Now playing
I played Persona 3 Reload, and now that the embargo is lifted, I can say it's awesome. Otherwise, my quest to strike Grandmaster in Monitoring 2 continues unabated.