Warm towels
Paradox has announced the last stops in itsCities: Skylines“World Tour” content push that will bring us to the end of the DLC for the game. The big ticket item here is theHotels & Retreatsmini-expansion, but there is also a slate of Content Creator Packs coming with it. It’s all set to drop on July 17, 2025.
Hotels & Retreatsdoes essentially what it says on the tin. Sort of. It enables you to plop hotels in your city and run them. This runs in line with previous expansions like theCampusone that gave you things that would, I expect, be largely outside of your municipal power. I can’t see the mayor/city planner getting involved in the day-to-day of managing a hotel, but that’s what this expansionasks you to do.
You start with a small 1-star establishment, then unlock upgrades to expand it to a must-see tourist hotspot. You’ll then unlock various other types of hotels, like hostels and cabins, as well as supporting tourist buildings. Location is key, as certain hotels will bring in specific tourist groups.
This seems like it will be a completely missable expansion to a lot of people, but I’m personally very excited about it. I love service management games, so mixing that in with my favoriteurban city-builderis just so appealing.
Creator Content
These are some interesting Content Creator Packs, too.
From Samantha “Avanya” Woods comes theIndustrial Evolutionpack. This includes growable industrial buildings that draw from both historical and modern sources.
Next isRailroads of Japanfrom Ryuichi Kaminogi. As the name suggests, this offers several items to make your rail system more like Japan’s legendary commuter system. This includes stations, trains, and buses. I’m probably most excited about this pack, because I have no end of appreciation for Japan’s rail.
Finally, there’sBrooklyn & Queensfrom creator Prosper. This one is also pretty self-explanatory as it adds a number of growable buildings inspired by the boroughs of New York City. This is quite a timely set since Brooklyn features prominently inThe Super Mario Bros. Movie.
On top of this are a couple of radio stations, which are probably less interesting because, if you’re like me, you just switch off the music and play your own in the background while you build.
End of an era
This all marks the fact that attention is now moving to the recently announcedCities: Skylines 2, which is set to drop this year. Developer Colossal Order pledges to continue the support forCities: Skylinesthrough to the end of the year. However, it’s unlikely it will see any new content past that.
At the same time, I don’t expectCities: Skylines 2to launch with all the extra features that the first game built up. It could be a while before we see hotels again. Hopefully, all the new features of the sequel will make up for that. Otherwise, you’re able to always wait eight years until everything drops.
