Paradox Interactive and Collossal Order have announced that the new Cities Skylines expansion, dubbed Cities Skylines: After Dark, will be released September 24.
After Dark is an appropriate name, because the expansion is adding day and night cycles, something that will likely add a bit more realism to the city-building simulator. Citizens will be less active at nighttime, and roads will be quieter, making maintenance a bit easier. However, crime will also increase at night. There will be a separate nighttime budget so that you can mobilize the police appropriately and respond to service requests without interrupting traffic. In a forum post, lead designer Karoliina Korppoo added “there are new lighted signs, neon signs and other lights to make the city look interesting during the night. The sun rises and sets, painting the sky with bright colours, you can see the moon and stars move across the night sky.”
The expansion will also be adding taxis, prisons, bike lanes, beachfront properties, new transportation systems, and graphics enhancements. No word on zombies, yet, though. Last June Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of Colossal Order, had mentioned that the game might be seeing zombies at some point in the future, but it looks like the walking dead won’t be in this particular expansion, if ever.
Cities Skylines has been hailed as the game that’s replaced Sim City. It managed to sell more than one million copies by just one month after release, despite coming a bit out of left field. Players have built thousands of mods.
In the game, players build highways and waterways, designate districts, and make sure their people have adequate social services in a mission to create a high-functioning city. (Or very, very low-functioning, if you’re me. My only achievement so far is “World’s Worst Mayor.”) You also have to make sure your city can make enough money to survive. You’ll deal with issues like traffic congestion, bad zoning, and neighborhoods where some would like more shopping opportunities nearby even if it means their neighbors might get bulldozed.
Cities Skylines: After Dark will be available September 24 for PC, Mac, and Linux, for $14.99.
