Cities Skylines lets you make more or less anything you might imagine, from sprawling commercial districts to towering skyscrapers and idyllic suburban neighborhoods. But as we await the arrival of the Cities Skylines 2 release date, and the next generation of Paradox and Colossal Order’s terrific city-building game, one player has made an emphatic statement by building an ultra-rich, ultra-private billionaire island and then destroying it with a meteor. This is Cities Skylines as social commentary.
We’ve seen the Cities Skylines 2 maps, and learned a lot about how the new urban management game will transform traffic, services, and seasonal weather. Natural disasters are also sure to play a part in CS2, but they’re already being used to devastating, didactic effect in the original game.
Cities Skylines player and Reddit user ‘Great_Frisian’ shares their latest creation, an exclusive, offshore residential area complete with gardens, a farmhouse, and a huge mansion in the center. There are four cars parked outside, and a yacht moored on the nearby shore. “Billionaire’s Island,” Great_Frisian calls it, outlining how it is custom-built using a combination of assets from mods and Cities Skylines official add-ons.
The responses however soon develop a recurring theme. “Future site of the ‘Billionaire’s Crater,” one person writes. “Let us know when the tidal wave hits,” another says. Another Cities Skylines fan posts a detailed analysis of the island, estimating the total cost of the house, cars, and other assets to place the owner’s wealth “clearly in the $100m to $999m range… likely old money of some kind.” The stage is thus set for a searing – and fiery – social commentary.
“Because of popular demand,” Great_Frisian writes, sharing a series of images of Billionaire’s Island whereby a meteor approaches, collides with the centerpiece mansion, and leaves behind a gigantic smoking crater. “Here you go, people,” the Cities Skylines player writes in a subsequent comment. “I didn’t ask for this,” writes one fan, “but I approve.”
Check out the full Cities Skylines 2 system requirements, if you want to make sure your PC is ready for launch day. You might also want to try some other great strategy games available right now.