Cities: Skylines 2 is getting a new developer as publisher Paradox turns to a new studio, 2 years after the city builder's messy launch with no console release in sight

Cities: Skylines developer Colossal Order is officially stepping away from its city builder series, with a new studio taking over work on Cities: Skylines 2 alongside existing publisher Paradox Interactive.

Announced in a post shared on the Paradox Forum today, the official Cities: Skylines account states: "After more than a decade of successful collaboration across numerous titles that we're both immensely proud of, Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order have mutually decided to pursue independent paths. The decision was made thoughtfully and in the interest of both teams – ensuring the strongest possible future for the Cities: Skylines franchise."

Under Paradox's leadership, Iceflake Studios will be taking over "all existing and future development for Cities: Skylines 2, including free updates for the current version, continuous work on the Editor and console editions, as well as future expansions and content packs. This means that Cities players will be able to look forward to new updates and content drops for many years."

Iceflake Studios is set to be fully behind the wheel "from the start of 2026," with Colossal Order finishing up work on a "few additional updates" first, including this week's upcoming "Bike Patch" (you'll never guess what that adds).

In a statement, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen says the devs are "confident that the franchise will continue to thrive under Paradox's leadership," and teases that "we’re excited to channel our experience, creativity, and passion into new projects that align with our long-term vision."

Meanwhile, Iceflake studio manager Lasse Liljedahl is promising big things for Cities: Skylines fans. "We have a decade worth of experience from making city building and management games. We see a strong foundation and so much potential waiting to be unleashed and I can't wait to show you what we have planned for the next chapter of this incredible game."

Cities: Skylines 2 launched back in 2023, but it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for the city builder. Its launch was overshadowed by technical issues, and the promised console release still hasn't arrived – it's been heavily delayed, and even now there's still no release window for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S users. The team doesn't offer a massive amount of reassurance in a new FAQ post about the dev changeover, either, simply saying that "we are continuing to work on the console version and look forward to sharing updates with the community as soon as we are ready.​"

Cities: Skylines 2 publisher says players "have higher expectations" today and are "less accepting" that games will "fix things over time."