The companies announced that Paradox Interactive and Cities: Skylines developer Colossal Order are parting ways, with ongoing work on Cities: Skylines II and the entire franchise moving to a separate studio under the Paradox umbrella, Iceflake Studios.
Colossal Order will end with several updates – the Bike patch, Old Town buildings, bug fixes and more, as well as the Editor beta and Resource Mods. Iceflake Studios (which also happens to be based in Tampere, Finland and released Surviving The Aftermath in 2021) is building momentum to take over development from early 2026 and will be responsible for free updates, ongoing work on editorial and console editions, and future expansions and content packs.
Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of Colossal Order, writes: “For over fifteen years, the Cities series and our partnership with Paradox have been a defining part of our journey at Colossal Order. When we started creating Cities in Motion, we never imagined it would become a cherished franchise with a passionate, steadfast community of millions of players around the world. We want to thank everyone at Paradox for their trust and cooperation, and of course the community for the incredible support that has made Cities what we are sure it is. the franchise will continue to grow under Paradox’s leadership, and as we move forward, we are excited to leverage our experience, creativity and passion into up-to-date projects that align with our long-term vision.
Mattias Lilja, Deputy CEO of Paradox Interactive, added: “Our partnership with Colossal Order is one of the longest-standing relationships we have enjoyed at Paradox. Four games, dozens of expansions, and a community of millions of players across Cities; it’s remarkable how much we have accomplished together. We have deep respect for the Colossal Order team and can’t wait to see where they go next. For our part, we look forward to continuing to work for the passionate Cities: Skylines community and make sure you provide for them more content and up-to-date experiences.”
Iceflake Studio Manager Lasse Liljedahl said: “Taking the helm of a genre-leading series like Cities is a huge honor and a great responsibility. There is a huge, steadfast community out there, and I want to say to every member of that community that we will humbly carry that legacy forward with respect, alongside all of you. Iceflake has the potential and scope to get started. We have a decade of experience creating city building and management games. We see a forceful foundation and huge potential waiting to be unleashed and I can’t wait Can’t wait to show you what we have planned for the next chapter of this amazing game.
After the enormous success and popularity of Cities: Skylines, it’s no secret that Colossal Order struggled with the scope of work on Cities: Skylines II. Originally announced as a multi-platform release, the console versions were delayed and released on PC in behind schedule 2023 after a wave of dissatisfaction with game optimization, features and bugs. CO postponed the game for the last two years, but had to indefinitely delay the console version and postpone the DLC and refund the money. At first glance, it looked like the team had turned a corner and released the Bridges & Ports DLC a few weeks ago, but apparently all parties felt it was time for a pristine slate.
We hope that Iceflake will quickly gain momentum in the game and we look forward to the next Colossal Order project.
Source: Paradox
