It’s hard to believe that Cities: Skylines has remained one of the most prominent and consistently played city builders after over a decade since its release in March of 2015, but here we are with publisher Paradox Interactive still pushing fresh paid content for the game. Today marks its 11th Anniversary, and to commemorate, the Race Day, Renewed History, Iconic Brutalism, and Eighth Gear Radio DLCs along with free patch have arrived. Those of whom were disappointed with Cities: Skylines 2, as many were–even Paradox apologized for it–at least have some new and exciting features to look forward to.
Some long-term fans returning to the game may be a little confused about the new DLC, considering that developer Colossal Order bid Cities: Skylines farewell with the Hubs and Transit update back in 2023. Well, they did in fact halt further development on the game to work on its sequel, and in their place a diverse array of studios and independent developers took on the role of producing content. Developed by Tantalus, The Race Day DLC is the star of the show out of the new lineup of content in terms of size, and indeed it is arguably the largest the game has seen since Plazas and Promenades, which was released several years ago. Cities: Skylines has been saturated with Content Creator packs, radio packs, and other small tidbits of cosmetic content over its lifetime, which doesn’t make the Renewed History, Iconic Brutalism, or Gear Shift Radio DLCs particularly notable, but Race Day looks promising.
The expansion adds the creation and management of various races to the game, which bicycle enthusiasts, marathoners, and Formula One enthusiasts ought to find nifty. The coolest thing here looks to be the customizable motorsport tracks, which you can build exactly like you would any other road, and even integrate the track into some of your city’s normal streets. This opens up a trove of possibilities, for example; recreating the famous Nürburgring, weaving a track through your bustling financial district, constructing a ridiculously large map-spanning circuit, or really anything a madman with a city’s budget or enterprising planner could think of. You earn revenue for your city off of this, according to the devs, so at least give the fictional civilians of your domain something fun to look at. Even if you don’t end up getting the DLC, the free update that comes with it adds road fences–which banal as that may be, gives you yet another thing to beautify with.