Cities: Skylines developer Colossal Order has parted ways with publisher Paradox Interactive, with ongoing development of the series moving to a different studio.
In a statement posted to the Paradox Forums, Paradox announced that the pair had "mutually decided to pursue independent paths", claiming the choice had been made to ensure "the strongest possible future for the Cities: Skylines franchise."
Colossal Order will continue to oversee development of Cities: Skylines 2 until 2026, handling the incoming Bike Patch and a "beta implementation" of the long awaited asset support for the game's Editor. Come 2026, however "all existing and future development" of Skylines 2 will be handled by Iceflake Studios.
What is Iceflake Studios? Well, Paradox describes it as one of its "internal management game studios" based in Tampere, Finland. Iceflake was founded in 2007 and acquired by Paradox in 2020.
Looking at Iceflake's website, the developer seems to have been mainly focussed on developing mobile games until relatively recently, having developed 2021's survivalist city-builder Surviving the Aftermath—though as part of the statement, Iceflake's Studio Manager Lasse Lijedahl says it has a "decade worth of experience from making city building and management games."
Lijedahl also said that taking over on Cities Skylines is an "immense honor and a great responsibility." Colossal Order, meanwhile, is moving onto pastures new, with CEO Mariina Hallikainen saying the company is "excited to channel our experience, creativity and passion into new projects that align with our long-term vision."
It's hard to know exactly what to make of all this. Cities: Skylines 2 had clearly been a difficult project for Colossal Order. The sequel launched in a rough state, poorly optimised and lacking many features players had grown fond of in the original and its many, many expansions. Supporting the game has also proved troublesome for Colossal Order, with its Bridges and Ports expansion being delayed for more than a year.
Paradox eventually conceded that Skylines 2 had been released too early, though deputy CEO Mattias Lilja claimed that everyone involved had been "in agreement that iterating [Skylines 2] live was the right way to go." Clearly though, this was the wrong choice, and the game's reputation has yet to recover.
Skylines 2 is also far from the only game published from Paradox to hit troubled waters lately. Indeed, replacing developers has become something of a habit for the publisher, with Prison Architect 2 being handed off from Double Eleven to Brazilian outfit Kokku, while Bloodlines 2 was taken off Hardsuit Labs and given to The Chinese Room. Bloodlines 2 did eventually come out, albeit to responses that ranged from mildly positive to largely negative. Prison Architect 2, on the other hand, has been delayed indefinitely.
That's not to mention the cancellation of Life by You, the botched DLC releases, and the underwhelming responses to games like Millennia and Lamplighters League, the latter of which also led to Paradox parting ways with its developer, Harebrained Schemes.
As for what this all means for Cities: Skylines 2 and the series as a whole, all three parties are apparently working to ensure a "smooth transition" at present, while Iceflake Studios will "share its plans" for Cities: Skylines "in the near future."
