Clover HolmesStockholm-based video game publisher Paradox Interactive, known for their strategy games such as Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, have announced they are parting ways with the development team behind Cities: Skylines 2.
On a blog post, a join statement was issued from both Paradox itself and developer Colossal Order on the split. Colossal Order’s CEO, Mariina Hallikainen, described Cities: Skylines as a “cherished franchise” and thanked both the game’s dedicated fanbase and support from Paradox over the years. Hallikainen also indicated that they are planning to move forward with their own projects after parting ways.
This is not the first studio to have parted ways with Paradox Interactive in recent years. In 2019, Paradox Interactive announced their acquisition of Hardsuit Labs with the intention to develop a sequel to Troika Games’ cult classic Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines following a successful ARG teasing the game. This development period was marked by constant delays, changing directions of the game, and the firing of key members of the development team before ultimately the project was scrapped and restarted with a new developer in September 2023.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 released on October 21, 2025.
Cities: Skylines was released by Colossal Order in 2015 to much acclaim and enjoyed nearly a decade of support in the form of free updates, bug fixes, and paid DLC content. Skylines revitalized the city-builder genre after the critically panned SimCity from EA in 2013 was widely rejected by fans of the genre for failing to live up to titans in the series, such as SimCity 4, and always online DRM requirements. Cities: Skylines arrived to PlayStation 4 in 2017.
Skylines 2, on the other hand, had a much more controversial 2024 launch marked by fans feeling as though the game was unfinished, riddled with bugs, and had significant performance issues. Many felt that it was missing key content from the previous entry in the series and as of November 2025, there is still no release date in sight for PlayStation 5 or other consoles.
According to the Paradox blog post and subsequent FAQ post, Colossal Order will continue to releases patches and free content updates through to the start of 2026 when new developer Iceflake Studio will take over.
Iceflake was acquired by Paradox in 2020, following the release of their own city builder and survival game Surviving the Aftermath. While received positively at launch, their own city builder’s last major DLC update was in 2023 with many fans concerned that the game may have been abandoned. If this is not the case and Surviving the Aftermath has not been abandoned, it remains to be seen if Iceflake will be up to the task of managing two simultaneous city builder games.
Paradox have been vague about whether or not this new change in developers will impact or cause any delays for the PS5 release of Cities Skylines 2.
Are you excited for the PS5 release of Cities Skylines 2? Are you worried about the future of the game, or do you think it will be in good hands? Let us know in the comments below.