The first premium DLC expansion for Cities Skylines II continues to be an embarrassment for Colossal Order’s otherwise leading city building series. Already the developer and publisher Paradox Interactive decided to pull the DLC from sale and issue refunds to any who bought it.
Now, it seems that a title update coping with the removal of the DLC, pending its free addition to the main game, has caused near-fatal visual glitches that wreck players’ cities. It could take up to three weeks to resolve this new issue, Colossal Order told fans.
Official forums and the subreddit for Cities Skylines II are alive with complaints that existing buildings have either been replaced with gray “tombstone” place-holders, or simply wiped out altogether.
“Unfortunately, due to variations in the packages purchased, some entitlements are currently inactive and causing an issue where the player cannot access the assets,” Colossal Order wrote in an update to an FAQ originally published on Thursday. “We’re looking for a temporary fix for this, but the issue may continue until the patch is released.”
The developer said the patch is already in the works and “we aim to deliver this update to you within 2-3 weeks, earlier if possible.”
Fans are upset with the ham-handed response to the underwhelming Beach Properties DLC, whose assets seemed to be no great shakes for a piece of premium content, but at least still worked. Now those who bought it are finding they have a broken game for the time being.
“I’d give them a day or two before they walk back and release an emergency hotfix,” said one Redditor. “No one seems to be in control of this company, everything just seems so poorly coordinated and organized.”
Cities Skylines 2 has had problems from day one
Cities Skylines 2 launched in late October, and had noticeable performance issues and other problems that led critics, and many fans leaving user reviews, to blast it as feeling unfinished, even like an early access game.
Then in November, Colossal Order’s chief executive apologized to fans and said it would delay development and release of the game’s premium Expansion Pass content in order to focus on improving the base game and launch a highly anticipated, and also overdue, Mod Editor.
A beta version of mod support launched on March 25, along with the now-infamous Beach Properties asset pack. The game is currently available for Windows PC through a variety of marketplaces. Its PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions are expected later this year.
