Cities: Skylines 1 vs 2: what's different?
Cities: Skylines II (October 2023) is the sequel to Cities: Skylines (March 2015). Both are published by Paradox Interactive; Steam lists Colossal Order as the developer of the first game and Iceflake Studios and Colossal Order for the sequel. The sequel's playable area is 159 km², which its developers call "roughly 5 times bigger than in Cities: Skylines", where at most 33.18 km² can be built on in the first game (Paradox). It also has a deeper simulation of citizens, traffic and economy, built-in seasons and better road tools. The original still has the far bigger library of DLC and mods and runs on much weaker PCs.
CS1 vs CS2 at a glance
| Feature | Cities: Skylines (CS1) | Cities: Skylines II (CS2) |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 10 March 2015 | 24 October 2023 |
| Map tiles | 5x5 grid, 9 can be bought | 441 can be unlocked, each about ⅓ the size of a CS1 tile |
| Area to build on | up to 33.18 km² (of 92.16 km² playable) | 159 km² playable area |
| Recommended RAM | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Recommended graphics | GeForce GTX 580 / Radeon RX 560 | GeForce RTX 3080 / Radeon RX 6800 XT |
| Storage | 4 GB | 60 GB |
| PC systems on Steam | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows |
| Mods | Steam Workshop | Paradox Mods |
Sources: Paradox, Maps & Themes; Steam store pages for Cities: Skylines and Cities: Skylines II, read 4 November 2026.
Map size and growth
- CS1: the playable area is a 5x5 grid of 1.92 x 1.92 km tiles (92.16 km² in total), and 9 of them can be bought once everything is unlocked, for at most 33.18 km² to build on.
- CS2: tiles are much smaller, roughly a third of a CS1 tile, but you can unlock 441 of them, for a playable area of 159 km². A new city starts with 9 tiles, about the same starting area as in CS1. Progression is tied to milestones earned through city growth, which unlock services, policies and new tiles.
Simulation
- Citizens and economy: CS2 simulates households, jobs, wages, rent and company profits in more detail. Bad planning shows up as high rent, unemployment or businesses that close.
- Traffic: CS2 drivers weigh time, cost and comfort when choosing routes, change lanes more naturally and can be hit by accidents. Traffic in CS1 often jams in a single lane.
- Services: in CS2 many service buildings can be upgraded with extensions instead of placing many separate buildings.
Roads and building tools
CS2 adds grid and parallel road tools, snapping and built-in roundabouts, and more zoning types such as row houses and mixed-use. In CS1, many of these needed mods.
Seasons, weather and day/night
In CS2, seasons and weather are part of the base game, and each map sets the climate of your city. CS1 has a day and night cycle in the base game. Snow, rain and fog, and a new "Winter" map theme, came with the Snowfall expansion (18 February 2016).
Performance and mods
CS2 is far heavier on the PC: its recommended graphics card is a GeForce RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6800 XT, against a GTX 580 or RX 560 for CS1, and it needs 60 GB of storage instead of 4 GB. Mods for CS2 come through Paradox Mods, while CS1's huge mod library is on the Steam Workshop.
FAQ
Should I buy Cities: Skylines 1 or 2?
Buy CS2 if your PC is strong and you want the deeper simulation and the bigger map. Buy CS1 if you have a modest PC, play on a Mac or Linux, or want the largest choice of DLC, assets and mods.
What PC do I need for Cities: Skylines 2?
Steam lists a minimum of an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, 8 GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 970 (4 GB) or Radeon RX 480 (8 GB). The recommended setup is an Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 16 GB of RAM and a GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB) or Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB). Both need 60 GB of storage; the minimum system is 64-bit Windows 10, and the recommended one Windows 10 or 11 (Steam, read 4 November 2026).
Is Cities: Skylines 2 on consoles?
Not yet. On Steam, CS2 is a Windows game. Paradox's console news page gave no PlayStation 5 or Xbox release date when read on 4 November 2026. The first game is also sold for Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, according to the store links on Paradox's Cities: Skylines page.