Colossal Order has announced that the eagerly anticipated editor for Cities: Skylines 2 will be released in early 2024. In the meantime, players can now sign up for early access to the editor, to gain access before the feature's full release.
In Colossal Order's latest update to players, CEO Mariina Hallikainen revealed the planned release window for Cities: Skylines 2's editor, inviting players and creators to test its functionality ahead of the full launch. Many players were previously disappointed when Cities: Skylines 2 launched without mod support, leaving creators temporarily in the dark regarding the game's modding future.
Although the editor wasn't included in the game's release, players managed to find an unfinished version of it within Cities: Skylines 2's files. This has since been used by players to create many of the existing mods for the game. However, within the announcement, it was also revealed that many existing Cities Skylines 2 mods may be broken when the editor is finally released.
Due to the changes made to the editor since the game's release, mods made with the unfinished editor will no longer be compatible with Cities: Skylines 2. This means that creators will have a lot of work on their hands to fix or recreate their mods using the new editor. Nevertheless, by allowing players early access to a more complete version of the editor, Colossal Order is doing what it can to help creators prepare their mods before the editor's launch.
With the latest version of the Cities: Skylines 2 editor, Colossal Order revealed that players can expect significant improvements to landscaping and water-placement tools. They also assured players that work on bug fixes and performance improvements is progressing well. Players can expect new patches to be deployed soon, as Colossal Order continues to recover frpm Cities: Skylines 2's rocky release.
In order to gain early access to the editor ahead of its full release, you can sign up via this Google form. However, Paradox and Colossal Order state that participants will be selected based on the quality and download numbers of their mods for Cities: Skylines, and that only a limited number of creators will be selected for participation.