Cities: Skylines 2's first performance patch finally fixes an annoying error

Layout of a city
(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

You can now download Cities: Skylines 2's first patch on Steam, fixing various problems with the city-building game while also addressing concerns about the title's performance. 

This first performance patch for Cities: Skylines 2 introduces a ton of significant fixes. First off, it has changed the game's Level of Detail (LOD) to be independent of rendering, so you can get a more consistent performance. There are also depth of field optimizations and adjustments alongside global illumination tweaks, to name just a few. 

However, the best update has to be fixes to the traffic bugs, which saw cars appear randomly in fields and even in the sea if they crashed into another vehicle. Cars could also crash into nothing or appear turned over randomly. 

Unfortunately, many players had a difficult time with Cities: Skylines 2, thanks to a range of performance issues. While developer Colossal Order warned players to "manage expectations" before the city-building simulator's release, this hasn't done much to curb disappointment.

The sluggish performance that some players are experiencing comes down to hardware. Colossal Order has previously stated that "it is built for the future with modern hardware in mind". In short, the game will run fine in a few years when you've upgraded your PC. 

Luckily, you won't have to wait years for fixes. None of the problems are deeply rooted in the simulation game's foundations, so it seems likely that they can be fixed, or at least mitigated. Players are already seeing the benefit of the most recent patches, with several Steam users reporting that their GPU usage has decreased with the patch installed. 

"Some may see a significant improvement while others might only see a smaller improvement. At this time, we recommend you experiment with the settings you turned down to see what kind of fps you're seeing with this update", Colossal Order said. 

If you're a fan of Cities: Skylines 2, then be sure to check out these other fantastic simulation games that are available to play right now. 

TOPICS
Elie Gould
Features Writer

Elie is a Features Writer for TechRadar Gaming, here to write about anything new or slightly weird. Before writing for TRG, Elie studied for a Masters at Cardiff University JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs or editing the gaming section for their student publications. 

Elie’s first step into gaming was through Pokémon but they've taken the natural next step in the horror genre. Any and every game that would keep you up at night is on their list to play - despite the fact that one of Elie’s biggest fears is being chased. 

Read more
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Miles Morales
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's second hotfix fixes crashing issues and addresses a frame rate-related bug
Ada Lovelace as a leader in Civilization 7.
Sid Meier's Civilization 7 update 1.1.0 finally stops AI leaders from flooding your territory with armies of explorers
EA Sports FC 25
EA Sports FC 25's latest refresh update is the "most significant mid-season gameplay update ever"
Assassin's Creed Origins key art - Bayek standing in front of a pyramid
If Microsoft's Windows 11 24H2 issues continue like this, I'll fully convert to SteamOS for gaming as Ubisoft is forced to fix Assassin’s Creed games
Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2 now lets you turn off PSSR on PS5 Pro
Baldur's Gate 3
Don't panic! Baldur's Gate 3 players on PS5 who were affected by the accidental release of Patch 8 can fix their game using this easy solution
Latest in Consoles & PC
Astro Bot PS5 bundle
Sony officially announces new Astro Bot PS5 bundles and they're available from PlayStation Direct right now for bargain prices we can barely believe
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered
Future PlayStation games could have AI-powered characters, if this leaked prototype of Aloy is anything to go by
The artwork for The Last of Us Limited Edition DualSense controller
I can't wait to pre-order The Last of Us Limited Edition DualSense and if you're a fan too then I've got all the the information and best links to bookmark right now
Playing games on the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma without an external display.
The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma offers Steam Deck owners a premium design and, of course, plenty of RGB
Image of GTA 6 protagonists and PS5
GTA 6's console-only launch reminds me of how much I despise console exclusivity - is it worth waiting years for PC ports?
The Hori Split Pad Pro attached to a Nintendo Switch OLED and placed on a colorful desk mat.
I've used the Hori Split Pad Pro with my Nintendo Switch for years and it's still great, but there are some better options in 2025
Latest in News
Google Gemini Flash 2.0 Images
I tried Gemini's new AI image generation tool - here are 5 ways to get the best art from Google's Flash 2.0
An image of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra from a hands-on event
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could resurrect an intriguing camera feature
Eurocom Raptor X18
At $15,000, this massive 256GB RAM laptop makes Apple's MacBook Pro look affordable, tiny and very, very slow
Cristin Milioti in Black Mirror season 7
Netflix launches trailer for Black Mirror season 7, giving us a look at its first-ever sequel episode and an unexpected returning character
A graphic of the PC Gaming Show
Get ready for a bounty of PC games on June 8, as the PC Gaming show is back
A close up of The Daily podcast from Pocket Casts' web page
‘Podcasting shouldn’t be locked behind walled gardens’: Pocket Casts slams Spotify and makes its web player free to all