Cities Skylines 2 Already Has The Perfect Set-Up For…

Summary

Cities Skylines 2 has the potential to thrive with the addition of multiplayer, as it could allow players to build cities together and trade resources.
SimCity 2013's multiplayer was a failure due to being forced on players and server overload, but it still had interesting features that should be considered by other city builders.
Cities Skylines 2 already has a foundation for multiplayer through its single-player, with the ability to create connections with other cities, but giving players control of those cities would take it to the next level.

After years of post-launch support for Cities Skylines, the hotly anticipated sequel has finally arrived. Cities Skylines 2 seems to take everything good about the first game and improve upon it tenfold for a fantastic city simulator. It seems to be showing audiences once again why Colossal Order is the perfect studio to lead the city builder genre after the failings of SimCity 2013. However, that game still seems to be an exclusive feature that Cities Skylines 2 could thrive with if given the chance.

SimCity 2013 included a lot of massive changes to the series' formula, with one of the biggest changes probably being the introduction of multiplayer. While it may have been an extremely controversial decision to force it on the players, the actual idea behind it had a lot of promise. Being able to build cities alongside friends sounds like a recipe for success, which is why Cities Skylines 2 should run with it. It already seems to have the perfect set-up for a feature like that, so hopefully the studio delivers.

Cities Skylines 2 Could Thrive with Multiplayer

Cities Skylines 2 panoramic shot of sample city space needle

Unlike SimCity 2013, there are no elements of multiplayer within Cities Skylines 2. Players must create their own saved games, build cities by themselves, and can only interact with the greater community outside the game. This makes sense since the genre is primarily focused on delivering fun single-player simulators. However, if done right, multiplayer has the chance to take the concept to greater heights.

SimCity 2013 did not do multiplayer right, which is partly why it failed. While it should have been an optional mode, it was forced upon players at launch. They could not play the game without connecting to the servers, and that proved extremely difficult at launch since they were overloaded. This caused the game to be unplayable, which is never a great look. Once players could actually play, they quickly realized just how limited SimCity 2013 was due to the forced multiplayer.

Even though SimCity 2013's multiplayer was not handled well, it was still an interesting concept that more city builders should consider adopting. It let players build cities alongside each other and had them build up an entire region together. They could trade with each other, their cities could work together, and they could even build great works together. Even with the server troubles, it could still be a lot of fun when it worked. And that is why Cities Skylines 2 should take it to the next level.

Cities Skylines 2 already seems to have elements of this feature through its single-player. When players build various public transportation like trains or airports, they can create outside connections with other cities. These cities may not be visible outside a little icon with a name, but it feels like they are actually there. It helps make the world feel a bit more alive, which is great to see. Now, all that Colossal Order has to do is give players control of those other cities to take it to a whole new level.

Instead of forcing players to build within tiny squares together, Cities Skylines 2 could give players free rein to construct the city of their dreams. Then, they could create trade or public transportation routes to other players rather than nonexistent cities. Players could even hop in and look at someone's city if they wanted. As long as it was not forced onto the player, having a feature like this could really help liven up Cities Skylines 2 even more. It would just feel special to be a part of a world filled with player-created cities, so hopefully something like that is in the pipeline.