Key Highlights:
- Cities: Skylines II will launch on PC without official modding tools or Steam Workshop integration on October 24, 2023.
- Paradox Mods will replace Steam Workshop as the official distribution platform, with plans to support custom assets on consoles.
- The in-game Editor is undergoing beta testing with selected creators, but Paradox has not confirmed a public release date.
Paradox Interactive has confirmed that Cities: Skylines II will launch without official mod support, with its new Editor and Paradox Mods platform scheduled to arrive after the October 24, 2023 PC release. The publisher is moving away from Steam Workshop to establish a modding system intended to serve both PC and console players.
In its October 16 modding and performance announcement, Paradox explained that the in-game Editor was still in beta testing and would initially offer a basic framework. Additional functionality would be developed over time, with more detailed plans to follow in future development diaries.
This means players will not have the official modding experience available in the original Cities: Skylines through Steam Workshop when the sequel launches.
The change is particularly important because community-created buildings, maps and gameplay modifications helped extend the original game well beyond its initial features. The sequel introduces many improvements to city construction and simulation, as covered in our Cities: Skylines II gameplay preview, but players wanting additional custom content will initially have to wait.
Paradox Mods is intended to provide a shared distribution system rather than limiting official community creations to Steam users. However, console compatibility will not extend to every type of modification.
Console players are being promised access to asset mods, allowing them to use compatible community-created content such as buildings and other visual assets. Code modifications, which can alter game behaviour and underlying systems, are not included in that console commitment.
That difference matters because supporting custom buildings is not the same as allowing players to install gameplay-changing scripts. The ambition is broader availability for community content, but not identical modding capabilities across every platform.
Colossal Order is also working with selected community creators to test its new tools before public availability. Their feedback will help shape the Editor and prepare content for the eventual launch of Paradox Mods.
Although the publisher initially expects the Editor to arrive shortly after release, it has not announced an exact date or confirmed when individual modding features will become available.
I think the biggest challenge is preserving the creative freedom that helped make the first Cities: Skylines so successful while introducing tools that work across different platforms. A shared mod library sounds promising, but its usefulness will depend on the quality of the Editor, the restrictions on individual mod types and how quickly creators can adapt.
The announcement also arrives alongside a separate acknowledgement about PC performance. Colossal Order has confirmed that Cities: Skylines II has not reached its intended performance targets ahead of launch, although the developer still plans to release the PC version on October 24 and continue optimisation afterwards.
For players, the immediate outcome is straightforward: the sequel will launch with its built-in city-building systems, while official mod creation and distribution tools remain in development.
Later Update: Paradox launched the first public Cities: Skylines II Modding Beta alongside patch 1.1.0f1, introducing map editing, code mod support and the Paradox Mods interface. The official launch announcement confirmed that asset modding tools were still planned for a later update, meaning the initial release did not provide every feature originally envisaged.
The asset-modding beta subsequently arrived, considerably later than originally planned. Community-created architectural content also became an increasingly important part of the sequel, including the free China Region Pack distributed through Paradox Mods, although curated Region Packs should not be confused with full public access to asset-creation tools.
