Cities: Skylines 2 is at the top of every fan's mind as the devs tease their next game

Fans of city-building games are setting their expectations high for Cities: Skylines 2 as developer Colossal Order prepares to announce their next title.

The Paradox Announcement Show 2023 is set to broadcast on March 6 at 9am PST / 12pm EST / 5pm GMT. The event is set to feature the announcement of a new game from Shadowrun Returns and Battletech developer Harebrained Schemes, the reveal of the next project from Sims veteran Rod Humble, and info on four expansions spread across Paradox's infamously DLC-heavy catalog.

But perhaps the most notable announcement is coming from Colossal Order, as Paradox says "the genre-defining studio behind global smash hit Cities: Skylines will reveal its newest incredible game." We've known that Colossal Order has been working on something new for years, and fans are more hopeful than ever that this will be the stage that finally unveils Cities: Skylines 2.

This isn't like the long-suffering hopefuls for Elden Ring DLC or Hollow Knight: Silksong donning their clown makeup every time a big new press conference rolls around. Everyone's pretty much certain that the Cities sequel is going to be the headline announcement here. The range of sentiments from fans is pretty matter-of-fact: "Cities 2 I think is a given," "Cities: Skylines 2 more or less confirmed," "Extremely likely - Cities: Skylines 2." For its part, Paradox is playing coy… mostly.

Cities: Skylines is effectively uncontested when it comes to modern takes on traditional city-building games. EA's big SimCity reboot in 2013 was notoriously maligned, and hardcore genre fans have been awaiting a true successor to SimCity 4 since that game's release in 2003. Cities: Skylines is beloved for its robust building tools, but even its most ardent fans will generally admit that it lacks the in-depth economic and social simulation that made SimCity 4 so challenging and rewarding. That's a big part of why the Cities: Skylines fanbase has been so eager for a sequel to improve on the shortcomings of the original.

We're not lacking for ways to play Cities: Skylines as it stands, in any case. The city builder's next-gen update just hit PS5 and Xbox Series X and S, and the spin-off Cities VR is now available on PSVR 2.

If you're looking for the best city-building games, we've got a list to help you fulfill your mayoral fantasies.