Cities: Skylines II has gone through a bit of a ringer over the past few weeks. The developers decided to delay the PS5 and Xbox Series versions of the game, and then upped the minimum and recommended specs for the PC version, leading many to wonder why. In simple terms, it seems the game is more demanding to run than Colossal Order anticipated, as a new statement has now been published to set expectations for the title straight
As part of a note on performance, Colossal Order states: "Cities: Skylines II is a next-gen title, and naturally, it demands certain hardware requirements. With that said, while our team has worked tirelessly to deliver the best experience possible, we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted."
To follow up to this, the developer adds that it still believes to launch on October 24, 2023 is still the best option, as it is "proud of the unique gameplay and features in Cities: Skylines II, and we genuinely believe that it offers a great experience that you will enjoy."
As part of this update (or seemingly warning) about the game's performance, Colossal Order also provided a bit of information about the game's mod support, announcing that it will soon get mods once the beta phase for the modding tool has been completed. As for how these mods will be offered, Cities: Skylines II will use Paradox Mods as a platform, so that players across PC and console can join in on the fun.