As you may have noticed we had a couple of weeks off for the end of the year, but now everyone is back to working on Cities: Skylines II. Thanks for all the holiday wishes, it was lovely to receive them! It will be a busy time of the year for us so I’ll quickly go over some highlights for the upcoming months. As we have stated earlier, there is no higher priority than releasing the modding support for the game. The Editor UI is expected to be ready enough for the closed beta in a few weeks. There is an issue with the asset import still that we are hard at work solving. If the issue is not resolved in a reasonable time we’ll consider releasing the editor without the ability to import custom assets and just have the maps and code modding present. Whichever the resolution for the modding support is, we can’t wait to see your creations! The console versions of the game will also have the Editor (minus code modding) so therefore the Editor is the highest priority but in parallel, we’re also working on the stability and performance on console to make the game available for the console players as soon as possible. The schedule for the upcoming months and the early access program for modders will be available later. Before the Editor release, we’ll have a bug fixing patch that will include fixes for issues that have been resolved while the work above is ongoing. You can expect fixes for simulation and visual bugs, both based on internal findings and issues reported by you. The patch notes will be available when the patch is released. Thanks for all the reports! Last but not least, we have seen a growing tendency of toxicity in our community, something we have not experienced to this extent before. Not only directed towards our devs but also our fellow community members - resulting in people hesitating to engage with the community. In the long run, this will really hurt not only the mood and the happiness of community members but also discourage creativity and modding, something we would be very sad to see. We have always treasured having the devs present on the different social platforms and having direct communication with the community, but our biggest responsibility will always be protecting the team and making sure they work in a safe environment so they are allowed to do their best staying motivated and productive. So we hope we can all work together for our devs to be able to stay and be continuously active. As the mentions of this in previous entries do not seem to have moved the needle, perhaps you have a constructive way of telling us how we can improve the way we communicate with each other. Should we add more moderation or is the only option to pull back our engagement on our end? How can we make sure the community is a safe place for you to share your thoughts and hopes for the game? Here are a few ideas to start with:

• Give feedback and disagree, but do it constructively! Be specific and detailed, and don't worry about what others think. We have a diverse community so opinions and experiences will always vary.
• Assume people mean well and remember that tone can be hard to convey in writing.
• Help us make the community a nice place for everyone by showing your fellow mayors how to give constructive feedback.
• Always be kind :)

And we wish everyone happiness and success in 2024! Sincerely, Mariina