Paradox Interactive and Cities: Skylines developer Colossal Order have “mutually decided to go an independent route” and development of the city builder series has moved to Iceflake Studios.
An update A post on the Cities: Skylines II forums states that “the decision was made thoughtfully and in the best interests of both teams, ensuring the best possible future for the Cities: Skylines franchise.”
Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of Colossal Order, said: “For over fifteen years, the Cities series and our partnership with Paradox have been a defining part of our Colossal Order journey. When we set out to create Cities in Motion, we never imagined that it would grow into a valuable franchise with a passionate and dedicated community of millions of players around the world.
“We want to thank everyone at Paradox for their trust and collaboration, and of course the community for the incredible support that has made Cities what it is today. We are confident that the franchise will continue to thrive under Paradox's leadership. As we move forward, we are excited to channel our experience, creativity and passion into new projects that align with our long-term vision.”
Mattias Lilja, Deputy CEO of Paradox Interactive, praised the Finnish developer's achievements: “Our partnership with Colossal Order is one of the longest relationships we have enjoyed here at Paradox. Four games, dozens of expansions and a community of millions of Cities players; It's amazing how much we've achieved together.
“We have the utmost respect for the Colossal Order team and look forward to seeing where they go next. For our part, we are committed to continuing to work with the passionate Cities: Skylines community and be sure to provide them with more content and new experiences.”
The Cities franchise will now be developed by Iceflake Studios, an in-house gaming studio owned by Paradox. Like Colossal Order, Iceflake Studios is based in Tampere in Finland.
Lasse Liljedahl, Studio Manager at Iceflake Studios, said: “Taking the reins of a genre-leading franchise like Cities is a huge honor and a huge responsibility. There is a huge, loyal community out there, and I want to tell every member of that community that we will humbly and respectfully carry on this legacy with you all.
“Iceflake has the potential and opportunity to get started. We have ten years of experience creating city planning and management games. We see a strong foundation and huge potential waiting to be unlocked, and I can't wait to show you what we have planned for the next chapter of this incredible game.”
Colossal Order will take care of the few remaining updates to Cities: Skylines II before finishing the franchise, including the addition of bikes and bug fixes. But Iceflake Studios will take over all development from early 2026.
Colossal Order was founded in 2009 in Tampere, and its first release was Cities in Motion in 2011. But the studio found my biggest success with Cities: Skylines in 2015, which sold over 12 million copies across all platforms.
In 2023, the game received a sequel, Cities: Skylines II. Console versions of Cities: Skylines II were originally supposed to be released simultaneously with the PC version, but were constantly delayed. According to Frequently Asked Questions Console versions will now be developed by Iceflake Studios, according to the new announcement.
As Hallikainen said in a fireside chat with GamesIndustry.bizLewis Packwood at DevGAMM Madeira Games Summit Two weeks ago, Colossal Order struck an unusual deal with Paradox from the get-go. Rather than accepting funding in exchange for Paradox giving them a stake in the company, as is often the case with startup investments, Colossal Order instead assigned Paradox the rights to its Cities intellectual property. But to this day, Colossal Order remains a completely independent company.
Essentially, this means that Paradox has complete control over what happens to the Cities franchise, but Colossal Order remains independent and free to pursue its own goals.
