City builder fans have become a little giddy after a questionable comment from Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of developer Colossal Order, suggesting that players should just get used to Cities: Skylines 2’s gameplay issues.
“When it comes to gameplay and simulation, we set goals for the game and we achieved those goals,” Hallikainen said in a statement. comment on the game’s official forums. “There are surely some issues that we are investigating and fixing bugs, but the overall gaming experience is what we were looking for. Cities: Skylines 2 is the better game compared to the first one. If you don’t like simulation, This game might not be for you.”
Cities: Skylines 2’s problems are primarily technical, with its most glaring flaws having to do with its performance and visuals. However, players have been concerned about the simulation’s limitations since its launch. Some of these issues are due to bugs, but with a game as complex as Cities: Skylines 2, it’s almost impossible to tell which limitations come from bugs and which are the result of poor design.
With all of this in mind, Hallikainen’s comment got on the nerves of players pretty quickly. “What an incredibly out-of-touch thing to say to your player base, given the state of their game,” as one put it. Reddit User Put the. “Why did the CEO post this? At first I thought the OP just cut that line out of context to rage, but this is a really strange post from CO,” another said.
Hallikainen backtracked on that statement pretty quickly, saying “I apologize for the wording of my response above. My intention was to point out that while we are doing our best to improve the game, we will never be able to please absolutely everyone. We are fixing bugs and improving the game by combining our vision with the feedback and bug reports we receive from you, the community.”
She added: “It is disappointing that we were unable to meet the expectations raised by the exceptional marketing campaign and the success of the first game. However, working with you is the best part of creating games, and together we can make Cities: Skylines 2 the best it can be. I sincerely believe it. “
I Also I believe it can be a great game – I said so in my largely negative review of Cities: Skylines 2 – but failing to “meet the expectations set by the stellar marketing campaign” is maybe a bigger deal than Hallikainen gives it credit for. It’s the same sort of thing we’ve seen with launches like Cyberpunk 2077, and while video game fans have proven they love back stories, I wonder how much patience there is left for redemption arcs.
Cities Skylines 2 has ditched weekly patches and delayed DLC so developers can focus on fixes that “need a little more work.”