When Colossal Order's city builder Cities: Skylines released 2 years ago, it neatly filled the city-sized gap left by the disappointing Sim City. Since then, the game has managed to accrue a rather large player base of prospective urban planners and roadmap enthusiasts. Couple that with a community that is very actively developing new mods and assets for the Steam Workshop and what you're left with is a game that feels infinitely replayable and expandable, with several expansions adding new mechanics and buildings for you to use in your city.

Finland-based Colossal Order cut their teeth on the city building genre with Cities in Motion before moving on to the now established Cities: Skylines franchise. Just like with Cities in Motion, this game would not have been possible without the backing of Paradox Interactive, the developer and publisher behind Crusader Kings II and Stellaris.

"The game had our biggest launch in history at the time, selling 250.000 copies in its first 24 hours, and the community has only gotten bigger and more devoted over the last two years. Cities: Skylines perfectly showcases the kind of experiences we’re proud to support at Paradox: a game that people are just as excited to play now as they were two years ago. Happy birthday to Cities: Skylines, congratulations to Colossal Order, and my sincere thanks to all our players. Please follow me on Chirper. Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive

This is a game we had all been working on and dreaming about creating for years. Seeing how many people have rallied around it, and seeing the incredible community sharing their cities and mods has been so rewarding and inspiring. On behalf of our entire team, thank you so much to all of our players for your ongoing support!

Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of Colossal Order, has this to say about their experience over the past 2 years:To commemorate this milestone, everyone who owns at least copy of the base game will be able to download some free DLC that is "available soon". This DLC is called "Pearls from the East" and will add a few new buildings to your city like a Panda Zoo, a Chinese Temple, and the Shanghai Pearl Tower to spice up your city's skyline.

Recently, Colossal Order announced the third expansion coming to Cities: Skylines. This expansion will focus on public transport, allowing you to design the perfect public transport experience for your citizens.

Correction: This article originally stated that Colossal Order was Sweden-based. That is incorrect and we apologize for the error. Colossal Order is properly based in Finland, while their publisher, Paradox Interactive is based in Sweeden.

What do you think of Cities: Skylines? Has it managed to keep you interested over the last 2 years? Let us know in the comment section down below!