If you’re searching for how to get Cities: Skylines II free, you already know it isn’t cheap. Colossal Order’s ambitious city-building simulation sequel costs $49.99 on Steam, and on paper it’s the deepest city-builder the studio has made, though it’s also a divisive game still being patched years after launch. This guide stays balanced: covering the game’s ambition and its rocky reception before showing legitimate ways to play it without paying full price, including a real free weekend history most guides miss.
Two legitimate routes get you there. Snakzy is a free rewards app: complete offers, earn coins, redeem them for a Steam gift card, and pay $0. Eneba is a legitimate marketplace where a Cities: Skylines II key sells for around $26.81, roughly 46% off the official price, for anyone who wants to play today. Both end in a permanent, legitimate license.
| Game Info | Details |
|---|---|
| Game price | $49.99 on Steam |
| Metacritic rating | 74 critic, 4.4 user |
| Steam user reviews | Mixed, 57% of over 34,000 reviews overall; 74% positive in the last 30 days |
| Genre | City-building, construction and management simulation |
| Developer | Colossal Order (until 2026), Iceflake Studios (from 2026) |
| Publisher | Paradox Interactive |
Is Cities: Skylines II Free?
No, Cities: Skylines II is a paid game priced at $49.99 on Steam, with no permanent free-to-play version. It launched as a day-one PC Game Pass title on October 24, 2023, and Valve has run an official Steam free weekend for it since. If Game Pass or a free weekend aren’t lined up right now, Snakzy or a discounted Eneba key are the legitimate ways to get a permanent copy.
What Is Cities: Skylines II?
I’ve been tracking Cities: Skylines II since launch, and it’s one of the more complicated cases in this guide series. On paper, it’s the most detailed city-builder Colossal Order has made: a living economy, individually simulated citizens, and far larger maps than the original. Every citizen has a life, a job, and a home, and your decisions as mayor affect every single one of them, engaging with dynamic weather, seasonal variation, and pollution as real gameplay systems rather than cosmetic flourishes.
In practice, reception has been genuinely mixed. Metacritic sits at 74, the user score is a rough 4.4, and Steam reviews landed at Mixed with 57% positive out of more than 34,000 ratings overall, largely because of launch performance problems and the game’s unusually large 56.67 GB install size compared to the original’s 4 GB footprint. That said, recent reviews have trended more positive, at 74% over the last 30 days, reflecting real improvement work. In a notable development, Paradox transferred the game from original developer Colossal Order to Iceflake Studios at the start of 2026, a sign the publisher is still committed to fixing what launched rough.
How Much Does Cities: Skylines II Cost?
Cities: Skylines II costs $49.99 on Steam for the base game. Discounts have reached up to 39% off during major Steam sales, bringing it down to around $30.22, and an Ultimate Edition bundling the base game with the Waterfronts Expansion Pass and creator packs is also available at a bundled discount over buying separately. If you’d rather not wait for a sale, the Snakzy method below covers the price no matter what it’s currently listed at.
Was Cities: Skylines II Ever Free To Try?
Yes, and it’s worth watching for a repeat. Valve ran an official Steam free weekend for Cities: Skylines II in December 2024, letting anyone download and play the full base game at no cost, paired with a promotional discount for anyone who wanted to buy in after trying it. That specific window has closed. On top of that, the game launched as a day-one title on PC Game Pass back in October 2023 and has remained available there since, giving PC subscribers a genuinely free, ongoing path in. Console versions remain delayed as of 2026, so a PS5 or Xbox Game Pass console release isn’t an option yet. If neither the free weekend nor Game Pass applies to you, Snakzy or a discounted Eneba key remain the realistic paths to a permanent copy.
Cities: Skylines II Platform Availability
| Platform | Notes |
|---|---|
| PC (Steam, Windows) | Included in PC Game Pass since day one |
| PS5 / Xbox Series X|S | Console release still delayed as of 2026 |
Cities: Skylines II is currently PC-only, built on Unity for Windows, with console versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S announced but repeatedly delayed. Since Snakzy rewards redeem for a Steam gift card, this guide’s free method targets the only platform the game is actually available on right now.
Cities: Skylines II System Requirements
| Spec | Notes |
|---|---|
| Storage | 56.67 GB, considerably larger than the original game’s 4 GB footprint |
| Baseline | Genuinely demanding; a modern mid-to-high-range PC is recommended given the simulation depth |
Colossal Order raised the game’s minimum requirements ahead of launch, and combined with the unusually large install size, this is one of the more demanding city-builders on the market, worth checking your specs carefully before buying.
How Does Cities: Skylines II Play?
The core loop is single-player city-building: you zone residential, commercial, and industrial districts, lay out roads and transit, and manage services and budgets while a living economy and individually simulated citizens respond to every decision you make. Complex traffic systems, intricate electrical grids, and dynamic weather patterns all challenge you to build a functioning, thriving metropolis rather than just an attractive one.
Map scale is significantly larger than the original Cities: Skylines, letting you construct towering skyscrapers and expand across sprawling terrain. Choosing a map sets the climate for your city, and navigating challenges like rising pollution and unpredictable weather adds real strategic weight beyond pure zoning decisions. Full Steam Workshop support remains a core part of the experience, letting the community share assets and mods once installations are complete.
Cities: Skylines II Top Features
- Individually simulated citizens – Every resident has a job, home, and life story shaped by your decisions as mayor.
- A living economy – Complex traffic, electrical grids, and dynamic weather all interact in genuinely deep ways.
- Much larger maps – Build on a significantly bigger scale than the original Cities: Skylines.
- Ongoing developer commitment – A studio transition to Iceflake Studios in 2026 signals continued investment in fixing launch issues.
- Day-one PC Game Pass release – A genuinely free path for PC subscribers since launch.
How To Get Cities: Skylines II Free With Snakzy
Snakzy is a free rewards app: you complete offers, download apps, fill out surveys, and play partner games to earn coins, and no credit card is required. Because Cities: Skylines II is $49.99, most users will need more than one payout to fully cover it.
Steps:
- Download Snakzy on Android from the Google Play Store; iOS users can access it through the web version, as there is currently no native iOS app.
- Browse available offers inside the app. Offers vary by region and rotate regularly.
- Complete offers to earn coins, tracking your progress toward $49.99 inside the app.
- Redeem coins for a Steam gift card once your balance hits the required threshold.
- Use the gift card to buy Cities: Skylines II on Steam.
Minimum cashout threshold is $35. On average, users earn their first $27.70 payout within 6.5 days, which won’t fully cover this game’s price on its own, so budget for a second payout cycle. Payout speed and offer availability vary by country, so check current rates inside the app before planning around a specific timeline.
Get Cities: Skylines II Cheaper On Eneba
Not every reader wants to spend a week or two stacking Snakzy coins for a game this expensive. Eneba is a legitimate marketplace where a Cities: Skylines II key sells for around $26.81, roughly 46% off the official price, for anyone who wants to play today. The key is a genuine, permanent Steam license, redeemed the same way as a normal purchase. This method gives you a clean installation with full access to the Steam Workshop, allowing you to download thousands of community-made mods safely. Prices fluctuate, so check the live listing before checkout.
Is It Legal To Get Cities: Skylines II Free With Snakzy?
Yes. Snakzy pays users in coins for completing offers, those coins convert into a real Steam gift card, and the gift card is used for an official Steam purchase. Colossal Order, Iceflake Studios, and Paradox Interactive get paid the same as if you had bought the game directly, and the result is a legitimate license tied to your Steam account.
What to avoid: unofficial “free download” sites and cracked installers. These carry real malware risk and no legitimate license, and a cracked copy typically can’t access Steam Workshop, cutting you off from the mods that matter for this genre. Buying or earning your copy through legitimate means keeps development funded during the ongoing effort to fix the game’s launch issues.
Verdict
Cities: Skylines II is a genuinely complicated case: a 74 Metascore and Mixed Steam reviews at 57% overall reflect real, documented launch problems, but a 74% positive rate over the last 30 days and a fresh developer transition in 2026 suggest the game is trending in the right direction. It’s a reasonable pick for city-builder fans willing to accept some rough edges in exchange for genuinely deeper simulation than the original, and PC Game Pass subscribers already have a free path in.
If Game Pass or a free weekend aren’t available to you, getting it for free comes down to time rather than money: download Snakzy, work offers toward the $35 redemption threshold, and keep going until your balance clears the $49.99 price. From there, buying Cities: Skylines II is just a normal Steam checkout.
FAQs
Is Cities: Skylines II free to play?
No, it’s a paid game priced at $49.99 on Steam with no permanent free-to-play version. It launched as a day-one PC Game Pass title and has run official Steam free weekends. Outside of those, Snakzy or a discounted Eneba key are the legitimate ways to get a permanent copy.
Is Cities: Skylines II on Xbox Game Pass?
It’s on PC Game Pass since its October 2023 launch. A console version for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S remains delayed as of 2026, so it isn’t yet on console Game Pass.
What platforms is Cities: Skylines II on?
PC only, for Windows, currently. Console versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S have been announced but repeatedly delayed.
What is the Metacritic score for Cities: Skylines II?
It holds a 74 critic score with a 4.4 user score. Steam’s own reviews sit at Mixed, 57% positive from over 34,000 total reviews, though recent 30-day reviews trend at 74% positive.
Is it safe to get Cities: Skylines II through Snakzy?
Yes. Snakzy-earned Steam gift cards are redeemed through Steam’s official checkout, making the resulting purchase fully legitimate. Avoid unofficial free download sites instead, since those carry real malware and account-ban risk with no legal license attached.
