Paradox Interactive has doubled down on realism when it comes to Cities: Skylines 2, with the reveal that telecom infrastructure, welfare buildings, and prison labor are coming to the highly anticipated management sim, alongside a range of other features and upgrades.
The gameplay additions were revealed in a new blog post, which shone a spotlight on the mechanics that will exist to look after and reform your digital populace when things inevitably go wrong.
Anyone who played Cities: Skylines will know it is near impossible to keep everyone in your city happy. Any number of factors can influence a citizens’ well being, from a lack of energy to unemployment, pollution to crime. Thankfully, the new welfare office building operates as a safety net in the upcoming sequel, aiding citizens who are “down on their luck” by providing a boost when nearby residents’ happiness falls below half of its total value.
🤗What makes your citizens happy & what doesn’t🥲
Learn how you can cater to the many basic & special needs your citizens have, with the brand-new city services coming in Cities: Skylines II. 📝
Watch the new feature highlight now: https://t.co/sWrb9G2HWg
— Cities: Skylines (@CitiesSkylines) July 17, 2023
The developer update also revealed the introduction of prison labor to the franchise. In Cities: Skylines 2, people found guilty of a crime are sentenced to prison time which can be served in a player-constructed prison, assuming you have the cells to take them. During their enforced stay, prisoners will be put to work “producing resources used by manufacturing companies in the city”. Once their sentence is up each citizen will be re-introduced to the city, with their criminal status reset.
Paradox Interactive has also revealed a number of new and enhanced services players will need to provide their population with if they are to create a thriving urban sprawl. Cities: Skylines 2 will ask players to provide their citizenry with high-speed internet by creating a telecom infrastructure using server farms and telecom towers to increase wellbeing.
Furthermore, the condition of a city’s road system will now degrade over time, leading to slower travel speeds and an increase in the likelihood of accidents. The only way to counter this is to build a network of maintenance depots, which will dispatch a fleet of vehicles throughout the city to patch up holes in the asphalt as and when they appear.
Another new feature coming to Cities: Skylines 2 is the ability to upgrade key buildings such as hospitals and police stations to increase their efficiency and reach. Previously in Cities Skylines, players would need to spam multiple buildings of the same type to ensure their citizenry were properly served. The new upgrade system will also allow players to add new functionality to their buildings as a city matures, albeit at an increased upkeep cost.
Cities: Skylines 2 is set to launch on October 25 on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
