One creator of Cities Skylines 2 mods has pulled their work from various stores, explaining that the community for the Paradox and Colossal Order building game has “become overrun with anger and hatred” and is “hostile to developers.” Following its original launch, CS2 faced criticism owing to technical issues and performance problems, as well as some changes to the gameplay and simulation as compared to Cities Skylines 1. Colossal Order has since released a series of Cities Skylines 2 patches to address players’ concerns, but one modder is removing their creations in protest of the “toxic” CS2 community.
Cities Skylines 2 mods are already available, despite the official Paradox launcher – which makes creating and sharing fan-made material easier – going on hold until 2024. Between traffic AI, road-building tools, economic overhauls, and sweeping changes to services, CS2 has already been revolutionized by its modders, and is likely to enjoy the same long lifespan as its 2015 predecessor. Nevertheless, the condition of Cities Skylines 2 at launch has drawn heavy criticism from the fanbase for the city building game. Now, one modder is removing their work following a rise in “toxicity.”
“While I have appreciated the love and support from many of you in the community, I am sorry to say that I am pulling my mods ‘Cim Behavior Improvements’ and ‘Unemployment Monitor’,” Cities Skylines 2 mod creator ‘Deranged Teddy’ explains. “ I have been playing city builders for 30 years. During that time I have made some lifelong friends in this community, the relationships with whom I cherish very much.
“However, during the course of the past several months, I have watched this formerly peaceful, wholesome corner of the internet become overrun with anger and hatred for the very same developers who revolutionized and revitalized this genre with Cities Skylines.
“I do not believe Cities Skylines 2 is perfect. However… it has been saddening to watch so many people spit venom in the faces of people who have made simple, honest mistakes, accusing CO of laziness, lying, scam artistry, and any other form of malfeasance that helps explain their inability to sit with bad feelings and accept the humanity of developers.”
Deranged Teddy has removed both Cim Behavior Improvements and Unemployment Monitor from Thunderstore and Github, where they were previously available to download. Before the mods were taken down, Deranged Teddy encouraged users to obtain them and edit them if they wished. “I will enforce no licenses or copyrights, and am releasing it [the mods] to the public domain,” Deranged Teddy says.
The mod maker explains that they are removing their work to show solidarity with Colossal Order, and to avoid becoming a target themselves.
“We are not robots,” Deranged Teddy says. “We are human beings who design incredibly complicated things. Mistakes do need to be pointed out for the benefit of the game, but many have resorted to attaching their own feelings about the broader games industry to their complaints, turning what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill bug report into a scathing rebuke of everything CO stands for.
“The behavior of this community makes me wonder what happens to me down the line if I write a popular mod and it breaks. So, I feel that a decision must be made to stand up for my fellow developers, as well as myself, and withdraw from the community until things settle down. Please rethink your behavior, because modders aren’t going to stick around in a community that is this toxic and hostile to developers.”
A superb new Cities Skylines 2 mod that rebalances and adds more customization options to the in-game economy arrived last week. Meanwhile, Colossal Order says that official support for mods is a “high priority” in the coming year.
If you’re a big CS2 fan and want to know more about what to expect in the future, we have a complete guide to all the Cities Skylines 2 DLC. Alternatively, you might want to try the absolute best strategy games on PC.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.