Colossal Order has been doing deep dives into the various major systems being incorporated into Cities: Skylines 2 for a few weeks now, and it"s time for another one. The latest update covers the City Services portion, offering players a look into how they can better provide for their citizens.
As expected, many of the last game"s city services like electricity, sewage, education, and healthcare are returning, affecting land value as citizens get better benefits and move nearby. Adding to that, Telecommunications is incoming as a brand-new city service in the Communications category.
Players can set up telecom buildings to provide high-speed internet to residents, workers, and students, increasing their Well-being and Leisure stats. High bandwidth internet also affects Commercial and Industry companies" revenue. It"s up to players to have enough telecom buildings spread out over the city to make sure network signals remain strong as usage and the distances increase.
Another major change in the sequel is the ability to upgrade existing city service buildings. This may be familiar to those who played 2013"s SimCity, which employed a similar tactic. While Cities: Skylines 2 won"t have the map size constraints of the EA title, its upgrade system lets players extend services" operations further without having to plop down the same building too many times across the map.
The upgrades can include new functionalities too, such as adding a new wing to a Medical Clinic to offer more ambulances and patient capacity, a Radio Mast for better bandwidth, or a pollution cutting Exhaust Filter for a power plant. All these will cost money to build and increase building upkeep, however.
Garbage management is being hit with upgrades too. Instead of multiple landfill buildings that litter the city, players can now simply expand the landfill site itself with a drawing tool to give it more land to use. Its Incineration Plant and Recycling Center buildings will work as usual to process and empty out the waste material.
With details about city services now out of the way, coming up next week is a deep dive on the new electricity grid and water management systems. Cities: Skylines 2 is heading to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 on October 24, 2023. Xbox and PC Game Pass subscribers are also gaining access for no extra cost on day one.