A group of civilians walking through a city in Cities: Skylines 2

New Cities: Skylines 2 Video Shows How Your Citizens Live Their Lives

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Published: August 28, 2023 10:19 AM

A new Cities: Skylines 2 trailer has arrived, and it's all about your citizens and how they'll live their lives.

In previous Cities: Skylines 2 dev previews, we've learned about city progression, economics, and your city's climate, among many other things, but now it's time to talk about people.

According to the new trailer, while citizens are driven by "deep simulation", they don't follow mechanical commands; instead, they're guided by "real human impulses".

Most days for citizens will be uneventful; they'll work or go to school, spend time with family, and generally live their lives.

However, it's also possible for citizens to get sick, lose their jobs, become homeless, and commit crimes, but if you keep them happy, they'll contribute to your city's economy and satisfaction level until they die.

You can track citizen happiness in Cities: Skylines 2, so you'll be able to see what's bringing your citizens down or what's making them happy.

The same things that make people happy in real life will also make your citizens happy in Cities: Skylines 2; minimizing pollution, keeping public services running well, and keeping the streets free of crime, for instance.

Healthcare is another essential element of your city, and if you don't ensure that it's adequate, citizens will still die, even if your city is clean and safe. This is doubly important for your elderly citizens.

Each citizen experiences four life stages, and they'll have different needs based on which stage they're in.

You can also view citizens' lifepath journals, which record what happens to them and how it's making them feel, as well as their in-game social media feed.

That's right: Chirper is back in Cities: Skylines 2, and it's been "expanded and better integrated", so citizens will discuss their lives and what's happening in your city. If Chirps get likes, you can use that metric to decide which services you should focus on improving.

Cities: Skylines 2 launches for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 24th. You can check out a detailed rundown of the new citizen dev preview right here via Steam.


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Joe has been writing for TechRaptor for several years, and in those years has learned a lot about the gaming industry and its foibles. He’s originally an… More about Joseph