Cities: Skylines II free to play on Steam as player sentiment improves

Free trial on Steam

Cities: Skylines II is free to play on Steam until 16 November, according to Notebookcheck. The offer gives anyone curious about the city builder a chance to judge its current state without paying.

Players who decide to keep the game can buy it at a 30% discount until 19 November. Notebookcheck reports that this reduced price of $34.99 matches the lowest price the game has reached before, most recently during the Steam Autumn Sale.

What the game offers

Cities: Skylines II lets players design a city from the ground up. A handful of roads and small housing areas can grow into a large metropolis with high-rise buildings, industry and a full transport network, or stay a modest town. The layout is entirely up to the player.

Beyond construction, the game asks players to manage services, keep the economy running and balance the budget. Traffic planning is a central part of the experience. The building tools cover complex junctions, motorway interchanges and roundabouts, and public transport options include buses, trams, metros and trains. A sandbox mode removes money concerns for players who prefer pure creativity.

A difficult launch

The game launched in October 2023 and has faced sustained criticism since. Professional reviewers were fairly positive: GameStar scored it 74 out of 100 and PC Gamer gave it 77, praising the creative tools and road building while criticising weak performance and an underdeveloped simulation.

Player opinion has been much harsher. On Metacritic the game holds a Metascore of 74 but a user score of just 4.2. On Steam, only 55% of more than 95,000 reviews are positive. Common complaints include technical problems, unpredictable traffic behaviour and economic systems that do not always make sense. The downloadable content policy has also drawn criticism.

Signs of recovery under a new developer

Since early 2026 the game has been developed by Iceflake Studios, which took over from the original team. The studio has released numerous updates aimed mainly at improving performance and the simulation that drives the city.

Those efforts appear to be having an effect. Notebookcheck reports that 72% of Steam reviews from the past 30 days are positive, a clear rise on the overall figure. The problems are not solved, but the trend suggests the game is moving in the right direction.

Steam Deck performance caveat

Players considering the game on Valve's handheld should note that Cities: Skylines II is officially rated Unsupported on the Steam Deck. The community database ProtonDB gives it a Gold rating, but Notebookcheck notes that the demanding hardware requirements make it a cautious recommendation on that device.

For everyone else, the free period until 16 November is the simplest way to see whether the recent updates have addressed the issues that held the game back at launch.