When Does Cities: Skylines 2 Release on PC and Consoles?

The long-awaited release of Cities: Skylines 2 is coming, but when exactly does the game launch for PC and consoles?

Ever since Cities: Skylines got into the hands of city-building sim fanatics, the franchise has grown into a smash hit in the absence of Sim City. In the sequel, you’ll have numerous ways to build up skyscrapers and far-reaching highways, all to design a magnum opus of a city from the ground up. Seasons and weather will change as your structures evolve, plus other unique systems will create different events from player to player.

There’s quite a lot to digest in Cities: Skylines 2, and if you’re psyched to jump in soon, here’s what to know about when the city-building sim launches for PC and consoles.

What Is the Release Date for Cities: Skylines 2 on PC?

Developer Colossal Order and publisher Paradox Interactive aims to release Cities: Skylines 2 on October 24 for PC players. You can preorder the city-building sim on Steam before its launch day by buying one of its two digital editions. Currently, the base game version costs $49.99, and its Ultimate Edition runs for $89.99 on Steam.

Unlike the base version, the Ultimate Edition includes access to an Expansion Pass with asset packs for building and sculpting structures in new ways, alongside instantly unlocking a San Francisco set. The October 24 release date seems set in stone for PC, but console players will, unfortunately, have to wait a tad bit more.

When Does Cities: Skylines 2 for PS5 and Xbox X/S Launch?

At first, the developer and publisher aimed to launch Cities: Skylines 2 simultaneously on October 24 for PC and consoles. However, there seem to be issues with the Xbox X/S and PS5 versions. On the game’s official forums, the teams announced needing “more time to reach the quality targets” set for these console iterations.

The teams continued, “As we want to provide the best experience for our players, we are updating the release window for Xbox and PS5 to Spring 2024. The additional time allows us to focus on matching the quality and performance across all platforms.”

The announcement was published less than a month before the original release date for all platforms, so this was an unfortunate surprise to players. According to a report by Eurogamer, Paradox Interactive also admitted issues are present in the PC version of Cities: Skylines 2. Paradox stated the developer has “not achieved the [performance] benchmark we targeted” but decided “releasing now is the best way forward.”

This in mind, Cities: Skylines 2 might get off to a rocky start, but there are quite a few neat preorder bonuses you can scoop up now if you want to play much later when the game is more stable. 

All Pre-Order Bonuses for Cities: Skylines 2.

The Standard and Ultimate Editions for Cities: Skylines 2 has preorder bonuses. Below I’ll give you a rundown of what each edition offers:

Standard Edition

• Base Game
• Landmark Buildings preorder bonus

Ultimate Edition

• Base game
• Landmark Buildings preorder bonus
• San Fransisco Set
• Content Creator Packs (releasing Q1 2024)
• Bridges and Ports Expansion (releasing Q2 2024)
• Beach Properties Asset Pack (releasing Q4 2023)
• Radio Stations (releasing Q4 2023, Q1/Q2 2024)