As any Cities Skylines fan will know, expansion packs and DLCs are still coming out for this seven-year-old city-builder. But! What about a sequel? Will there be Cities Skylines 2 at all?

While we can't offer any hard information on whether there's a next Cities: Skylines game in the pipeline, we can offer a follow-up to our 2020 article where we discussed some similar burning questions.

To get the obvious issue out of the way: yes, we do believe that a Cities Skylines 2 title is currently in production. Even though it's been quite a long while since we last heard anything to suggest as much, a recent comment in regard to the Steam Deck's upcoming release sparked some debate.

There's some other stuff to consider, too, so bear with us as we go along!

Will There Be Cities Skylines 2? We Think - Yes!

It seems like it was yesterday that we posted a delightfully hopeful article here on the 2Game Community Hub discussing the odds of us getting Cities: Skylines 2. That particular bit of joy happened back in 2020, to be specific, and there had been virtually no new information on the potential Cities: Skylines 2 ever since.

However. Things certainly seem to have been moving along in the background. As you may or may not have noticed, there's a bit of hubbub online surrounding Valve's upcoming PC handheld - the Steam Deck. Excited early adopters have been reaching out to developers from all over the world to consider supporting Valve's PC/console hybrid, and Paradox Interactive chimed in on the issue, too.

Specifically, one user asked if Cities: Skylines would be modified or optimized for the Steam Deck in any way, shape, or form, and the answer was a no.

"This game is nearer the end of its lifecycle than the beginning," said the Paradox representative, "so it seems unlikely that any such rewrite will be contemplated, I'm afraid. If there is to be a CSL 2, then perhaps then," they concluded.

To be sure, this announcement is pretty innocuous all on its own. It's a sensible take. But! If you add the fact that Colossal Order - the developers of Cities: Skylines - are currently working on a major new project with Paradox Interactive, things may start to fall into place.

Less significant, albeit interesting all the same, is the fact that Colossal Order is hiring Cities: Skylines modders for projects that they aren't free to announce. It's the thousand cuts approach we've got here, as you can see.

Why is the Original Cities: Skylines Still Getting DLC?

All of the above is good and well, you might be thinking, but why is the original Cities: Skylines still getting DLC, then? Well, why not? It's a simple statement of fact that there's always more to do with a game such as this. Cities: Skylines could keep getting upgrades for years and still have more stuff to be added.

On top of that, there are two major reasons why Cities: Skylines would keep getting post-launch content even with a sequel in the pipeline. First is plenty obvious - to harness further funding from fans of the game. Second, though, is a bit more obtuse - to test out features that could be present by default in Cities: Skylines 2.

Namely, we're not talking about Content Creator Packs here. As cute as they are, these DLCs are just asset additions and/or replacers. Airports, on the other hand, was a significant DLC that added new features to the game. Whether it's a backend production improvement or something player-facing, odds are that Colossal Order uses these content packs to try out things that could come in handy for the potential Cities: Skylines 2.

We'll know whether this is the case once a Cities: Skylines sequel is finally announced. Specifically, it's a matter of scope and progression, so be on the lookout for the feature list and such, once more information is out.

When is the Cities: Skylines Sequel Coming Out (Possibly)?

It was back in May, just before the annual PDXCON, that Paradox Interactive issued a statement about Cities: Skylines.

"As Cities: Skylines approaches PDXCON Remixed, we see your messages and inquiries about future plans for the game and know that so many of you are excited about what's to come. So are we," it said. "We can confirm that we are currently working on a project with Colossal Order, but it is still too early in development to share more information at this time."

Sadly, not much was revealed at PDXCON 2021 in the end. Certainly, nothing that we could relate to a potential Cities: Skylines 2. Regardless of that, though, game fans find themselves hard-pressed to think of a reason why there wouldn't be a sequel in production.

And, really, much of what we've been talking about here at 2Game over the past few years still remains valid. How do you improve upon the original? One thing that we're 100% positive of, though, is that there's an announcement coming. Maybe this year, maybe the next. When it drops, though, we'll be very impressed for sure.

Closing Thoughts

Can you believe that we haven't had a major city-building game for almost seven years now? No, really, we're reasonably sure that at least part of the reason why we don't have a sequel to Cities: Skylines in our Steam Libraries is due to lack of competitors.

When you're the king of a niche, after all, why on earth would you launch a superior product? And we're only really being half-cheeky here, it's business 101.

Even so long after its original release, Cities: Skylines simply rules supreme. As we've shown, everything points to there being a Cities: Skylines 2 in production, too, but there's no way to tell how far along it is.

Curiously, teases do seem to have ramped up a bit. Whether this is coincidental or deliberate, we don't know.

In truth, fans of the series are just going to have to wait longer. Thankfully, Cities: Skylines does have a thriving modding scene. Better yet, with new official DLCs launching every so often, at least this old classic is still trucking along.