Cities: Skylines 2 has officially rolled out its first update under the stewardship of Iceflake Studios, the new developer that took the reins from Colossal Order at the end of 2025. Rather than introducing sprawling new features to revitalize the city-builder, the debut patch—titled “First Frost”—focuses heavily on a grim subject: death mechanics.
Fixing the Grim Reaper’s Schedule
Iceflake Studios has prioritized correcting how citizens pass away in the game. Previously, a technical oversight meant that the game ignored the time of day when calculating deaths, resulting in a surreal situation where citizens exclusively “popped their clogs” between midnight and 6:00 AM. To rectify this, the update quadruples the frequency of death calculations—moving from four to sixteen checks—to ensure a more natural distribution of mortality throughout the day.
Ending the Era of Immortal Citizens
Perhaps the most startling fix in the “First Frost” update addresses a bug that rendered citizens in “Easy Mode” effectively immortal. According to Iceflake, approximately 80% of citizens in this mode were failing to die of old age. By correcting this, the developer is finally allowing the city’s population to age and cycle naturally, solving the demographic stagnation that previously plagued player cities.
Gameplay Tweaks and Quality-of-Life Improvements
Beyond the overhaul of death and aging, the patch introduces several functional adjustments. Bicycle usage has been slashed by 80%, shifting the focus of the population away from the cycling mechanics introduced by the previous developers. Additionally, the update brings a suite of UI enhancements, including new icons for roundabouts, cul-de-sacs, and pollution types, while also refining the terraforming tools to be less destructive.
Technical performance also receives attention, with improved shadow rendering, better snow support for decal-based lots, and dynamic fog that reacts to changing weather conditions. Notably, the game now enables autosave by default—a long-awaited feature that finally arrives over two years after the game’s initial launch.
While this patch serves as a technical foundation rather than a content expansion, it appears to be resonating with the community. Recent Steam reviews for Cities: Skylines 2 have climbed to 67% positive, a significant improvement over the 54% overall rating, signaling a potential turning point for the sequel under its new development team.
