SimCity's lead developer says he was "thrilled to see Cities: Skylines pick up the mantle"

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"If it wasn't Cities: Skylines doing something ambitious with it, then these ideas were just going to fall by the wayside"

Cities: Skylines 2
(Image credit: Paradox)

One of SimCity's lead developers says he was "thrilled to see Cities: Skylines pick up the mantle" after EA called it a day on Maxis' city-building series. 

While it didn't invent the city-building genre, SimCity is responsible for making it popular. It laid the foundation for the wave of city builders that came after, including the hugely successful Cities: Skylines. 

Following the disastrous launch of SimCity 2013 a decade ago, and the subsequent closure of developer Maxis Emeryville, the SimCity series came to a rather abrupt and undignified end in 2015, the same time that the newly launched city builder Cities: Skylines was gaining a massive following of fans. With the once groundbreaking series reduced to rubble, SimCity veteran Ocean Quigley says he was happy that Cities: Skylines could continue pushing boundaries for city-builders. 

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Speaking to PC Gamer, Quigley, who worked as creative director on SimCity 2013, said, "I was thrilled to see Cities: Skylines pick up the mantle because EA pretty much said, 'We're done with this for now.'" He added, "So if it wasn't Cities: Skylines doing something ambitious with it, then these ideas were just going to fall by the wayside and never really go anywhere."

Check out our guide to the best city-building games for more excellent titles in the genre. 

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.