The Fall of Cities Skylines
The Fall of Cities Skylines
A few days prior, on January 22, Cities Skylines launched an update that ignited significant fan outrage. The situation extends beyond typical player dissatisfaction; it suggests possible breaches of EU regulations and violations of Steam’s terms of service through manipulation of the game’s review ratings.
To clarify the context, Cities Skylines entered the spotlight after the Sim City controversy, where constant online access was required. EA eventually addressed the issue, but the fallout was substantial. Many long-time players who built the game and maintained its mods were originally Sim City fans, making recent changes feel like a betrayal of trust. The publisher’s handling of the backlash only intensified the crisis.
On that date, an update introduced a Paradox Interactive launcher. Launching the game without notifying users or displaying warnings caused delays—sometimes up to ten minutes longer—especially when multiple DLCs and mods were installed. The launcher also required a sign-in, which some players found intrusive. Performance issues emerged, with CPU slowdowns and memory usage spikes reported. Some advanced users noted the launcher communicated data to remote servers, raising privacy concerns. It forced native versions of the game on Mac and Linux to become unusable, being placed in the USER DATA folder instead of the Steam directory.
Despite these problems, no official explanation was given beyond a brief statement in Steam forums: “We're doing this, don't riot.” Security scans flagged the launcher as potentially malicious.
Paradox has since issued a response to the controversy, but the situation remains contentious. The game and its DLC were sold at steep prices, and some fans labeled supporters as “SJWs who hate change” on Steam forums. Though the deleted post was removed, the negative impact persisted. Hundreds of players removed the game and altered their reviews to “not recommended.” A surge of brief, one-word or single-letter reviews flooded in, including a single “h.” This wave of negative feedback caused the review score to shift from “Mostly Positive” to “Mixed.”
Many of these unusual reviews were submitted on the same day and contained minimal information. Some even consisted of just the letter “h.” The rapid influx of such sparse feedback led to a reversal in the review rating, highlighting possible review manipulation—a serious violation of Steam’s terms of service that could result in account bans.
This is the current state: passionate fans protesting, Paradox struggling to regain trust, and the game’s reputation hanging in balance.
I haven't played much lately, but I've spent a lot of time on it.
Unless there's a different Paradox launcher for City Skylines it definitely dosen't
Lot's of antiviruses even detect steam as a virus
Like I like reading shitstorms like this but can I get a source?
This one apparently does, and the source is reply posts in the Steam forums. That thread has exceeded a thousand posts so what you want is in there...so get crackin!
I've got no skin in this game. I don't play Cities Skylines but my co-host does and he's been melting down over all of this and I've looked over the Steam forums to see what other people are saying. Nuclear Dumpster Fire is an apt description. I haven't seen anything this bad since Fallout 76. That nobody else is talking about is shocking, actually.
Although I don't share Paradox's approach here, I find it not surprising. It seems likely we'll encounter more of this as the "launcher wars" grow. Everyone is after a share, much like streaming platforms, which could harm the overall idea.
It's important to remember that proof must be provided to show Paradox is responsible for the positive ratings or reviews before it can be considered a breach of the terms.
The information shared so far doesn't clearly break any rules regarding GDPR or COPPA. More research might clarify this, but at present it remains uncertain. Still, these claims are best described as sensational, similar to clickbait or misleading stories that spread and eventually turn out to be true (or false) due to shifting narratives.
Short searches don't yield any news articles regarding this. Paradox Launcher has appeared in other games for months as well, and I remain curious about potential sources or coverage.
Although #1 might have overstated things, he raises a valid concern. The updated launcher presents a challenge.
We purchased CS several years back, along with various DLCs, and we found it to be enjoyable even with limited hardware. Over time, mods appeared and disappeared, often causing compatibility issues, but overall, CS remains acceptable and has been worth the investment so far.
Yes, we remain committed to Linux.
With the new launcher, we encountered a revised EULA that requires us to read it thoroughly before proceeding. There’s no alternative but to accept it; disagreement means seeking a refund, which would leave the game behind. We’ve already accepted the prior EULA, so we don’t support the current one, yet we still keep the game (strategically).
After exploring potential changes, I can confirm that we didn’t need to log in to Paradox to play. Saves work as long as the mods are present and loading remains smooth.
It took just about a minute from startup to load a save file, so I didn’t encounter those frustrating delays #1 mentioned.
However, the new launcher is bothersome. We prefer not to be forced into it at launch, and we don’t want to be targeted for data collection. Therefore, we’ll do everything possible to resist any pressure from the new agreement. In our opinion, the updated EULA terms aren’t acceptable to us.
But this approach of compelling users to accept new conditions, combined with intrusive advertising and telemetry, is unacceptable. It should raise concerns within the community whenever a provider or studio attempts something similar.
I'm accustomed to interacting with individuals who intentionally cause trouble due to their dislike of my words. tl:dr - Trolls have desensitized me.
Despite this, I remain concerned that no one else is addressing this issue because of the parallels to the EA Sim City controversy. Paradox has removed any dissenting posts from their platforms, yet on Steam there are still significant complaints.
The Links...
The Initial Developer Announcement
A casual but alarming post about the launcher that triggered a major crisis in the CSL community (caution: some content is explicit). The developer seemed aware of the likely backlash but proceeded with the release.
Update on the Launcher
An intended update aimed to ease tensions, but it only intensified the situation. Feedback indicates many players are unable to play due to performance issues or excessive resource consumption. This thread has become quite contentious.
Angry Reaction from a Community Member
A thoughtful yet frustrated reply to Paradox's remarks about the launcher. This exchange is still active and drawing attention. Bring asbestos boots.
Paradox's Cities Skylines Forum
No dedicated discussion here; just a link to their official forum. Paradox has restricted or removed any threads criticizing the launcher.
Thank you for your message. I find it really helpful. The main concerns are still unclear, especially regarding the claim that using a launcher would violate Steam's terms. Valve has certain measures in place to stop developers from transferring their player data to other platforms. However, if there are restrictions on updating games via a launcher, why hasn't this been discussed with companies like Rockstar, Epic, or Ubisoft before? Another point is that we don’t know the details of the agreement between CO and Paradox concerning the Cities franchise. CO isn’t owned by Paradox, so if the terms apply only to the original game, they might be willing to release sequels with a more consumer-focused partner—such as GOG.com or CD Projekt. This doesn’t solve the issue for the original title, which is disappointing. Ubi has also had problems with the Anno series, like the 2070 servers no longer being online and requiring login to play.