One of the recent things Paradox Interactive alongside Colossal Order has done for Cities: Skylines (which is the original one, out in 2015) is releasing the Shops of Shibuya Creator Pack and Map Pack 4, in what could well be called the late afternoon rush of DLCs. However, there might be some breaking news about Cities: Skylines II next week they hinted at, so let’s shower all our love on the old one.
So Guinness again? Oh. That’s a whole thing. Let’s break it down. While the official Cities: Skylines Twitter had announced the release, it poked all joy at the new Japanese-inspired shopping district. Gotta say that looks cool. Within moments, though, it almost became a support group for all the people waiting for a sequel. It’s like bringing a share bag of chips to a party that promised a five-course meal.
The loudest immediate responses were not to do with content but were an actual bombardment of “What about Cities: Skylines II?” One player, veckbutera, simply asked, “@CitiesSkylines what about C:S2?” And this question quite literally set the tone of the whole conversation. It’s a question that remains on everybody’s mind.
Scratch the surface, and the absence of thought for console people comes to the fore. Herrera4324 has a long thread going about a First Gen PS5 update to the original game, some 4K 120fps patch, or modding support to keep them afloat till the CS2 console release. Another, Zeriikler, simply pleaded, “@CitiesSkylines console news, please 🙏.” They’ve been waiting… really long. And, to many, this DLC keeping an old game alive has crushed some fond memories.
And that brings us to another side: Players were also facing technical difficulties. As PlayStation players began to complain, Juan Norambuena and Nic Legend said they could not download the Shops of Shibuya pack because of error messages. Everybody praised the Cities: Skylines social team; they were very responsive, asking about the regions, investigated the causes, and finally said it was likely a PS Store issue that usually resolves in up to 72 hours when lots of DLCs are being released simultaneously. That isn’t really good news for PlayStation mayors who would rather be building their city districts in Tokyo today.
Now, that deep-rooted sentiment is compounded by frustration interlaced with confusion. Why keep updating a nearly decade-old game when the sequel is out but… kinda has its struggles? User chicagochris50 was pretty brutal with it: “@CitiesSkylines continuing to give non-stop support to city skylines while we can’t get shit for part 2, that’s why im bitter and don’t play…………bridges and ports are never coming, and all we have are some basic updates and creator packs for cash…………..”
Oof. That player is feeling burned. And they’re not alone. Some comments went as far as accusing the developers of greed, being more interested in selling DLC packs than fixing the new game. Wangfist responded to another user with, “They couldn’t get it to work on console. It barely runs on PC. Just another greedy game developer who peddles packs and DLC like EA.” A comparison no dev wants.
But wait, it’s not all doom and gloom. Some players are still happy to see anything. Already, DiegoYavo is requesting a South America expansion, which sounds pretty cool actually. And TxCowboy is trying to be constructive by giving a critique of sorts-that they should get back to bigger, more significant DLCs rather than smaller creator packs. “Packs are great occasionally, but in CS1 you produced awesome DLC’s that truly enhanced the game. Get back to your winning formula.”
Then, that brings the pragmatist: Nowaye says that they’re “Waiting for reviews to be mostly positive before I buy.” Which, judging by the TSR launch, is probably a wise choice for any new content.
So what’s the deal here? On one hand, it’s cool that the developers are still supporting a beloved classic. Cities: Skylines has a massive, dedicated modding community and player base that never really left. For them, new content is probably a welcome surprise. But on the other hand, for the players who moved on to Cities: Skylines II, or are still waiting to be able to on console, this feels like a misallocation of resources. It highlights the tricky spot Paradox and Colossal Order are in. The sequel had a rocky launch with performance issues and missing features that were staples in the first game. So supporting the first game might be a way to keep the overall brand healthy while they work on fixing the second.
But the player reaction is clear: the appetite for the old game is there, but it’s overshadowed by the hunger for news and fixes for the new one. The promise of “news next week” is the real headline for most people. This Shibuya pack is just a temporary distraction. A nice-looking one, sure, but a distraction nonetheless.
It’s a weird place for a game franchise to be. The old one is still getting love, the new one is… a work in progress. And the community is stuck in the middle, not sure which game to invest their time and money in. All eyes are now on next week. That’s when we’ll supposedly get the real update. Until then, you can check out the new shops if you want. If you can download them. For those on Xbox, the situation might be different.
