Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order Part Ways, New Studio Takes Over Cities: Skylines Development

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Paradox Interactive and Cities: Skylines developer Colossal Order have ended their 15-year partnership. This means the two companies will no longer be working together on the Cities: Skylines franchise.

Now, another studio called Iceflake Studios, located in Finland, will be taking over the development of the current Cities: Skylines 2.

Paradox recently announced on their forums that they made a careful decision to benefit both teams and secure a strong future for the Cities: Skylines series.

Colossal Order will keep working on the game until 2026, after which Iceflake Studios will take over development.

While Paradox hasn’t explained the change, it appears to be related to the difficult launch of Cities: Skylines last year.

When the game first launched, it wasn’t very polished. Fans were disappointed and strongly criticized it because of several technical problems and performance issues.

The game was supposed to launch on consoles at the same time as other platforms, but those versions have been delayed, and there’s currently no new release date.

In a recent announcement, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen explained that their relationship with the publisher has been a key element of the studio’s history and success.

Hallikainen, speaking about the Cities in Motion series, expressed surprise and gratitude at its success, noting it’s become a beloved franchise with millions of dedicated fans globally. She’s optimistic that Paradox Interactive will continue to build on that success in the future.

Iceflake Studios Will Be the One to Handle Cities: Skylines 2’s Future Developments

According to Paradox Interactive’s deputy CEO, their collaboration with Colossal Order is one of their longest-standing partnerships.

We greatly admire the team at Colossal Order and are excited to see what they do next. We’re committed to continuing our support for the dedicated Cities: Skylines community, and we plan to deliver more content and fresh experiences for them,” said Lilja.

Paradox will now oversee all development – both current and planned – for Cities: Skylines 2 through its Iceflake Studios team.

The announcement also mentioned that they plan to develop versions of the game for consoles.

Iceflake Studio’s website shows they’ve primarily worked on mobile games up until now.

Despite recent concerns, Iceflake Studio’s manager, Lasse Lijedahl, emphasizes that the team has ten years of experience developing city-building and management games.

It’s currently unclear what the future holds for the Cities: Skylines series. Iceflake Studios has a lot of work ahead of them, as the game remains problematic even after several updates, though those updates have improved its stability somewhat.

Cities: Skylines 2 isn’t alone in having a difficult development process. Other recent games, such as Bloodlines 2 and Prison Architect 2 (which has been delayed indefinitely), have also faced challenges.

So, with the change in who’s making Cities: Skylines 2, things are going to be a bit different for a while. Iceflake Studios is taking over from Colossal Order, and it’s going to take them some time to get up to speed. As a player, I’m expecting a bit of a transition period while they figure things out.

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2025-11-18 00:07