Seems Cities: Horizons II It’s going to be really colossal. The launch of the console Cities: Horizons II was delayed until spring 2024, and the game’s minimum and recommended PC specs are now a bit more demanding. The PC version of the game will arrive on October 24, 2023, as originally planned.
Anyone who pre-ordered the game on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S should automatically receive a refund through those platforms. Developer Colossal Order is closing pre-orders for the console version for now. Cities: Horizons II It’s still coming to PC Game Pass on October 24 and coming to Xbox Game Pass next spring, alongside the console’s launch.
The new minimum and recommended PC specs aren’t much different from the original figures, but there are two notable changes. Recommended specifications now require an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor, instead of a Ryzen 5 5800X. Minimum specs start with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (or AMD equivalent) graphics card, an upgrade from the original GTX 780.
Colossal Order explained that the console delay and the PC update are due to the same root cause: this game is bigger and requires more optimization than they first thought. Here’s how the studio explained the adjustment to the game’s PC specifications:
“Cities: Horizons II It is a next-generation title and therefore has certain hardware requirements. The recommended specifications were set when the game was still in development. “After extensive testing with different hardware, we made the decision to update the minimum/recommended specifications for a better player experience.”
It’s been a tough year for PC gaming in general. The diversity built into the PC market has always been a challenge for developers, but ninth-generation console hardware is now outperforming many common PC setups, leading to ambitious, buggy games on PC. with today’s Cities: Horizons II news, it seems that Colossal Order is trying to isolate itself from this phenomenon.
Developers have also struggled to offer parity between the Xbox Series X, the most technically powerful console of this generation, and the Series S, Microsoft’s cheaper and less powerful option. Microsoft requires all games to launch with the same features on both consoles, and this has led to several delays, removed features, and at least one accidental PS5 console exclusive. Microsoft recently allowed Baldur’s Gate 3 creator Larian Studios to break these rules, but the requirement generally remains in place.
Colossal Order has an FAQ about changes to Cities: Horizons II right here.
