Discover The All-New Features of Cities: Skylines 2 Exclusively on Xbox Game Pass

Highlights

Xbox Game Pass continues to impress with a strong lineup of upcoming games for October, including the highly anticipated Cities: Skylines 2.

Cities: Skylines 2 takes the success of its predecessor to new heights, providing players with a larger and more immersive gameplay experience. With enhanced AI and a wider selection of city-building choices, Cities: Skylines 2 is a must-play for genre enthusiasts.

Xbox Game Pass has continued to exceed expectations in recent months, solidifying its position as the ultimate gaming deal. August saw the release of impressive titles like Sea of Stars and Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and September 2023 brought even more excitement with Bethesda's Starfield, Solar Ash, Lies of P, Payday 3, and several other highly anticipated games joining the service. The momentum of Xbox Game Pass shows no signs of slowing down, as October 2023 promises to be another outstanding month, featuring the highly anticipated release of Cities: Skylines 2.

Initially launched in 2015, the original Cities: Skylines remains widely regarded as the top city-management simulator available. While games like Tropico allow players to create thriving island retreats and Anno 1800 transports players to historical settings, Cities: Skylines empowers players to build their own modern urban landscapes. The upcoming release of Cities: Skylines 2 is set to elevate this experience even further, arriving on PC Game Pass on October 24 and consoles in Spring 2024.

Xbox Game Pass' Cities: Skylines 2's Gameplay Explained

In Cities: Skylines 2, players are tasked with creating their own modern-age city and its surroundings, whether they have played the original game or any other city-management simulator. The game begins by providing players with a generous plot of land and granting them access to various tools and buildings.

Once the game begins, players have the freedom to start building their city in any way they choose. They can establish residential and suburban areas, construct roads, place office buildings, and showcase their architectural skills through a range of other impressive feats. However, constructing the city is just one aspect of the Cities: Skylines 2 gameplay experience.

Simultaneously, players must also ensure the smooth functioning of their city.

How Cities: Skylines 2 Improves on its Predecessor

This involves a wide range of diverse urban management aspects, such as implementing tax policies and organizing traffic patterns to ensure efficient movement for residents throughout the town. Like any city-management game, the ultimate goal of Cities: Skylines 2 is to continually expand, constructing new structures to attract more citizens, generate more revenue, and continue building until players achieve a prosperous metropolis that satisfies them.

With its arrival as a long-awaited sequel, Cities: Skylines 2 elevates the already impressive gameplay of its predecessor in numerous ways. One of the standout enhancements lies in the remarkable expansion potential for players' cities. The original Cities: Skylines provided a modest offering of nine in-game tiles, corresponding to 36km². In the enhanced edition of the initial game, this limit was expanded to 25 tiles, encompassing 100km². However, Cities: Skylines 2 takes things to a whole new level by granting players a substantial number of 441 tiles, equating to a generous 159km² allowing for ambitious urban development. Moreover, unlike its predecessor, Cities: Skylines 2 reportedly removes any constraints on population size, providing players with limitless possibilities for citizen growth.

Cities: Skylines 2 offers a range of improvements. In terms of management, the game introduces new public transportation systems and a variety of new economy management features. Additionally, players will have access to numerous new structures and customization options. The game also boasts improved AI, resulting in more realistic behavior from its citizens. Cities: Skylines 2 will be released on October 24 for PC, with versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S launching in Spring 2024.