Cities: Skylines 2 is one of the worst-optimized games we’ve ever tested. Normally, we don’t like throwing around the word “optimized” -- but this one was bad enough that the developers themselves posted multiple panicked-updates ahead of launch to tell people as much.

In the time since launch, we’ve tested about 23 GPUs at multiple graphics settings and resolutions -- although we won’t bother presenting anything beyond 1080p, because the RTX 4090 was stuck below 40FPS AVG at 4K/low.

Today’s testing was done using a pack of save games published by City Planner Plays, a YouTuber who really focuses on the gaming side of this. City Planner did a good job with some initial benchmarks, and we’re here to pick up the torch for some in-depth performance and graphics analysis. We found everything from bugged texture quality that almost seemed inverse to the settings to bad stutters. The game itself appears to be getting updates, so that’s great to see. From what we can tell, it looks like a fun game that just needs some more time to bake – and the fact that devs can increase performance within 2 days of launch proves that.