Ahead of Cities: Skylines 2's release next week, publisher Paradox Interactive has admitted the city building sequel has "not achieved the [performance] benchmark we targeted". However, rather than delaying the game to remedy those issues the publisher has decided "releasing now is the best way forward".

The somewhat astonishing admission was shared in a post on the official Paradox forum, written to address "concerns raised about Cities: Skylines 2 performance" following the publisher's decision to increase Cities Skylines 2's minimum and recommended specs on PC and to delay the game on Xbox and PS5 into spring next year.

"Cities: Skylines 2 is a next-gen title, and naturally, it demands certain hardware requirements," the publisher wrote. "With that said, while our team has worked tirelessly to deliver the best experience possible, we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted."

However, rather than delaying the PC version's release to coincide with the revised console launch window, Paradox will go ahead with next week's launch as planned. "We still think for the long-term of the project, releasing now is the best way forward," it explained. "We are proud of the unique gameplay and features in Cities: Skylines 2, and we genuinely believe that it offers a great experience that you will enjoy."

Paradox insists it will "continually improve the game over the coming months" but says it wants to "manage expectations on performance" for next week's release. "Our ambition is for Cities: Skylines 2 to be enjoyed by as many players as possible," it adds, "and we're committed to ensuring it reaches its full potential."

Additionally, the publisher has announced it's ditching Steam Workshop support for mods in favour of its own Paradox Mods platform, which it says will be available across console and PC. "For console users, this means you will be able to access Asset Mods in the library," Paradox writes. "We know it is a huge part of the Cities: Skylines experience and we're beyond excited to introduce a solution that makes mods available to everyone."

Cities: Skylines 2 launches for PC on 24th October and will arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in "spring 2024" - after Paradox announced it needed "more time to reach the quality targets we've set for console".