200 Bugs Later, the First DLC Is in Development: Is Cities: Skylines II Finally Ready for New Paid Content?

Cities: Skylines II and the word construction site have been almost inseparable since its difficult PC release. Performance problems, simulation bugs, strange decisions made by citizens, missing features, delayed content and a console version that is still outstanding have damaged the trust of a large part of the community for years. Since the beginning of 2026, however, further development has no longer been handled by Colossal Order, but by Iceflake Studios. The new team has now presented an unusually specific assessment after its first six months – while confirming the next major step at the same time.

According to Iceflake, the studio has fixed more than 200 bugs in Cities: Skylines II since January. At the same time, more than 40 new features and improvements have been added to the game. These were not merely small corrections to texts or icons. The developers mention issues involving stuck citizens, demand bars that did not work correctly and flickering shadows, among other things. Although a large share of the bug fixes concerned the user interface, the actual simulation and gameplay also accounted for a significant proportion of the work.

Iceflake released several major updates during these six months. First Frost marked the beginning. Among other things, this update addressed the notorious death waves, adjusted bicycle usage, revised weather and fog, improved nighttime visibility and introduced a tool for changing the colours of buildings. The user interface, terraforming and tree placement were also changed. Citizens’ deaths, for example, were calculated significantly more frequently so that a large part of the population would no longer die at almost exactly the same time.

Later additions included the ability to disable zoning along roads, the new Iceflake Arena, an in-game encyclopedia, a benchmarking tool and an option to protect selected buildings from automatic upgrades by marking them as historic. There were also adjustments to the education system, cycling policies, pathfinding, performance and mod management. Most recently, the entire terrain rendering system was reworked. Landscapes are supposed to appear more three-dimensional, textures should blend more naturally and certain graphics settings should use less video memory.

The raw figure of more than 200 fixed bugs therefore sounds impressive at first. It shows how many different areas Iceflake has addressed within half a year. At the same time, however, it also demonstrates the condition in which the studio inherited Cities: Skylines II. A game in which more than 200 bugs can be corrected within six months was clearly still far from a fully mature state beforehand.

What Iceflake does not claim is therefore even more important. The studio does not say that Cities: Skylines II has now been completely repaired. The next update is once again expected to include bug fixes and adjustments to the simulation. However, it will contain less new content than some of the previous patches. The repair phase is therefore by no means complete. Iceflake is continuing to work on the foundation – but apparently no longer exclusively.

For the first time, the studio has confirmed that it is already developing its own DLC for Cities: Skylines II in parallel. What exactly it will contain, when it will be released and how much it will cost all remain completely unknown. Iceflake only wants to discuss it when the team is ready. So far, the only confirmed fact is that development has begun.

An important clarification is necessary here: this is not the first DLC or content pack for Cities: Skylines II overall. The game has already received several expansions, Creator Packs and radio stations. Iceflake is referring to its first own DLC since taking over development. In March 2026, for example, the Office Evolution and City Stations Creator Packs were released while Iceflake simultaneously published its second free update. These content packs were therefore not automatically developed entirely by Iceflake.

Nevertheless, the combination of a repair assessment and new DLC development is particularly sensitive. The Cities: Skylines II community has already experienced what happens when paid content is released too early. In March 2024, Beach Properties launched for €9.99 as the first post-release content pack. A few weeks later, Paradox and Colossal Order admitted that the pack had been rushed and should not have been released in its condition. Buyers were compensated where possible, and the content was subsequently integrated into the base game for free.

This history is likely to explain why every new DLC announcement for Cities: Skylines II is viewed particularly critically. The issue is not that a development studio should never be allowed to earn money from new content. A game such as Cities: Skylines depends in the long term on additional buildings, systems, means of transport, maps and expansions. New content can considerably deepen the simulation and keep players engaged for many years.

The crucial question is whether the foundation is now stable enough. More than 200 bug fixes show that Iceflake has worked intensively. However, they do not automatically prove that the most important problems have disappeared for every player. Simulation and performance remain sensitive subjects, particularly in large cities. Individual systems that work on paper can also continue to produce strange results during normal gameplay.

There is also the unresolved console question. When Iceflake took over development, the studio became responsible not only for PC updates and future expansions, but also for the Editor and the still-planned console versions. At the time, Paradox promised new updates and content for many years. Developing a DLC is therefore part of this task – but it also competes for attention with the major construction sites that remain open.

What matters will be how Iceflake divides the work internally. A DLC does not necessarily mean that bug fixes and performance optimisations will stop. Different teams can work in parallel on new buildings, graphics, gameplay systems and technical problems. That would be entirely normal for a city-building game supported over the long term. It would only become problematic if paid content visibly progressed more quickly than the repair of the remaining core issues.

We do not yet know the theme or scope of the DLC. It may be a smaller content pack. Iceflake may be planning a major expansion with new gameplay systems. There is also no price, release window or first imagery. It is therefore too early to judge the DLC itself. However, the announcement clearly shows that Iceflake no longer regards Cities: Skylines II solely as a repair project.

A new phase therefore begins after six months. Iceflake initially focused on bugs, usability, simulation, visual quality and many long-standing community requests. The aim now is to turn the more stable foundation back into a game that grows regularly through new content. Whether the community accepts this transition is likely to depend heavily on what the first DLC contains and which improvements continue to be released for free alongside it.

The figure of more than 200 fixed bugs can be interpreted in both directions. For one side, it proves that Iceflake has brought more movement to Cities: Skylines II within a short period. For the other, it shows how much still had to be repaired before anyone should even begin discussing new paid content.

In the end, the number of published patch notes will not decide the matter. What matters is how Cities: Skylines II actually plays today and whether the next updates continue to solve noticeable problems. A good DLC could demonstrate the potential that remains within the simulation after all the repairs. Paid content that arrives too early or offers too little could immediately revive memories of Beach Properties.

Iceflake has achieved a great deal within six months. More than 200 bugs and over 40 features or improvements represent a serious record. However, its first own DLC also increases the pressure. The studio must now prove that new content and further repairs are possible at the same time – and that Cities: Skylines II will not start charging money for the next floor while construction work is still continuing in the foundations.