Cities Skylines 2 stuttering – how to fix lag, low FPS, and performance issues

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Want to resolve stuttering in Cities Skylines 2? Ahead of its launch, developer Colossal Order has stated that performance isn’t butter-smooth and that players can expect stuttering and other performance issues. Lag and low FPS can slow down older machines.

A Reddit AMA confirms that the team is attempting to resolve these issues post-launch. This would be after the Cities Skylines 2 release time. Check out the Cities Skylines 2 system requirements before committing to a purchase.

How to fix stuttering and performance issues in Cities Skylines 2?

The quickest way to fix stuttering in Cities Skylines 2 is by lowering the Level of Detail to Very Low. As we covered the game for our Cities Skylines 2 review, we noticed that this setting made a big difference in the game’s performance without hampering its visuals. Details were still relatively visible despite turning this all the way down to Very Low. Since Cities Skylines 2 is a CPU-intensive game, lowering certain settings can resolve this bottleneck.

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Considering the scale of the game, it’s understandable that it needs a bit more polish to run smoothly. There are plenty of visual upgrades and quality-of-life improvements in the new game. Here’s our Cities Skylines 2 vs Cities Skylines comparison for more details.

Here are some other tweaks to solve lag, low FPS, and stuttering in Cities Skylines 2:


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  • Lower graphics settings such as volumetrics and global illumination. This will improve your FPS and reduce some of the stuttering in the game.
  • Lower Animation Quality, Texture Quality, and Reflections Quality to Medium or lower. This step is especially important if you’re running a machine under the recommended specifications.

That covers how to fix stuttering in Cities Skylines 2. Check out the Cities Skylines 2 pre-order bonuses if you’re considering getting the Ultimate Edition of the game and its DLCs. And here’s how to tackle Cities Skylines 2 natural disasters once you boot up the game. The game is out this October on PC. As for console players, expect Cities Skylines 2 on Xbox and PS5 sometime in 2024.

About the Author

Antony Terence

Antony Terence is a Guides Writer for VideoGamer. While he is particularly fond of city-builders, shooters, and strategy titles, he won’t turn down a good JRPG or a turn-based roguelike.

Cities Skylines 2

  • Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
  • Genre(s): Simulation, Strategy