How to Fix Blurry or Pixelated Issue on Cities Skylines 2

When it comes to the popular city-building simulation games, Cities Skylines 2 is one of them that offers a single-player simulation experience to develop a full metropolis city from scratch. Though the game has been much awaited, the initial days from release don’t go smoothly enough. Meanwhile, multiple players are experiencing blurry or pixelated issue on Cities Skylines 2. This specific issue mostly occurs whenever unfortunate players during the gameplay sessions.

It’s worth mentioning that the particular issue doesn’t bother everyone to date. But some of the players are getting affected by the blurry or pixelated issue on the PC with Cities Skylines 2. The in-game graphical glitches or texture loading issues might become difficult for the players to deal with during gameplay. It feels frustrating enough that also prevents players from enjoying the full game. But as a newly released title, you can expect such bugs or flaws until developers develop a couple of patch fixes.

Let’s take a quick look at the pixelated or blurry graphics issue on Cities Skylines 2 while playing via the Steam client. This can happen due to a couple of possible reasons such as the incompatibility with the system requirements of the game. An outdated game patch version, corrupted or missing game files, conflicts with the graphics driver, not using the dedicated graphics card, overclocking issues, in-game graphical settings-related issues, and more can also be other reasons.

Blurry or Pixelated Issue on Cities Skylines 2

3. Run Cities Skylines 2 as an Administrator

It’s highly recommended to run Cities Skylines 2 as an administrator on the system to allow the account control access properly. Without having admin access to the system, your game application won’t run at its full potential.

Right-click on the Cities: Skylines 2 executable app on your PC.
Click on Properties > Go to the Compatibility tab.
Select the Run this program as an administrator option.
Click on Apply > Select OK to save changes.

4. Update Cities Skylines 2

In case you haven’t updated your Cities Skylines 2 game for a while, that means your game has become outdated enough. An outdated game version mostly causes several issues.

For Steam:

Open Steam > Go to Library.
Click on Cities Skylines 2 from the left pane.
It’ll automatically search for the available update.
Click on Update if an update is available.
Once the update is done, close Steam and reboot your PC to apply changes.

For PC Game Pass:

Open the Xbox app on the PC.
From My Library, select Cities Skylines 2.
Select More options (…) > Choose Manage.
Click on Files > Select Check for updates.

5. Verify and Repair Game Files

Verify and repair the installed game files on the PC by following the steps below. It’ll ensure there is no issue with the game files. In some cases, corrupted or missing game files may trigger several issues with the game running experience.

For Steam:

Launch Steam > Click on Library.
Right-click on Cities Skylines 2 from the list.
Click on Properties > Go to Local Files.

Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
Now, wait for the process to complete.
Once done, restart your PC.

For PC Game Pass:

Open the Xbox app on your PC.
In My Library, select Cities Skylines 2 title.
Select the More options (…) button.
Choose Manage > Click on Files.
Next, choose Verify and Repair.
Wait for the process and rerun the game.

6. Update the Graphics Driver

Sometimes outdated or corrupted graphics drivers on Windows can cause game launching and even screen tearing issues. You should also try to update the graphics driver on your PC to avoid outdated graphics driver-related issues by following the steps below.

Recommended Update:

Press the Win+X keys > Click on Device Manager.
Double-click on Display Adapters > Right-click on the graphics card.

Device Manager Update Display Adapter

Now, click on Update driver.
Choose Search automatically for drivers.
It’ll check for available updates and install the same.
Once done, restart your PC to apply the changes.

Manual Update:

If you can’t find any pending updates, head over to the official website of the respective graphics card brand below and search manually for the latest update. Do remember that you’ll always have to search for the latest driver version and specific for the model you’re using. If a new version is available for the graphics card, download the driver and install it on your PC. You can jump to the link below to do so:

7. Tweak In-Game Graphics Settings

Another thing you’ll need to manually adjust some of the in-game graphics settings by following the steps below to ensure the Cities Skylines 2 game is running fine. Sometimes incorrect or higher in-game graphics settings may cause performance issues.

Run the Steam client.
Open the Cities Skylines 2 game.
Go back to the in-game Options menu.
Go to Graphics > Enable the Advanced option.
Set the Anti-aliasing mode to Turn it Off.
Turn Off the VSync option.
Select Constant in the Dynamic Resolution Scale Quality option.
Set the Display Resolution to 1920 x 1080 @60Hz.
Turn Off the Depth of Field feature.
Turn Off the Volumetrics option.
Set Motion Blur to Off.
Save changes and relaunch the game to check for blurry or pixelated issues.

8. Turn Off the Tilt Shift Effect

It’s also worth recommending to disable the tilt shift effect from the game settings which can reduce blurriness of the game graphics up to some extent. Several players did find this trick helpful. Turning off the tilt shift can improve the overall visual quality of the game. To do that:

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Click on Cities Skylines 2 from the left pane to launch it.
Now, go back to the Options menu > Turn Off the Tilt Shift Effect option.
Save changes and then restart the game to check if the blurriness or pixelated issue still bothers you.

9. Disable Volumetric Lighting

In some cases, disabling volumetric lighting on Cities Skylines 2 can improve the overall visual quality of the game up to some extent. You should try following this tweak to check for the issue again.

Run Cities Skylines 2 via the Steam launcher.
Go back to the Options menu > Disable the Volumetric Lighting option.
Restart the game and cross-check if the blurriness has been reduced a bit or not.

10. Run the Game in Windowed Mode

It’s also suggested to run the Cities Skylines 2 game in the Windowed display mode rather than the fullscreen mode to reduce screen blurry or pixelated issues. To do this:

Run the Steam client > Launch Cities Skylines 2 from the Steam Library.
Go back to the Options menu.
Head over to Display Settings.
Set Windowed Mode.
Save changes and run the game again.

11. Use Set Launch Options on Steam

Sometimes the game’s default settings might cause several issues with the optimizations for some PC specs. It’s recommended to manually use the set launch options on Steam to forcefully run the DirectX D3D9 feature with Cities Skylines 2. This particular method might help in reducing pixelated or blurriness issues in the game. To do it:

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Right-click on Cities: Skylines 2.
Select Properties.
In the General tab, locate the Launch Options field.
Now, input the following additional command line on the field:

-force-d3d9

Once done, launch the game to check if the problem has been fixed or not.

Note: In case, the problem is still there, you can remove the command from the launch options.

12. Adjust the Extra Sharpness Filter

Both the NVIDIA and AMD graphics card users allow users to easily improve the sharpness level of the visuals on the screen for most of their video games. You can try following the steps below to adjust the extra sharpness filter mode according to your preference.

For NVIDIA Graphics Cards:

Right-click on your blank desktop screen.
Open the NVIDIA Control Panel from the context menu.
Go to Adjust image settings with preview.
Select the Use my preference emphasizing option.
Make sure to use the Sharpness slider of your choice.
Once done, save the changes & check for the issue again.

For AMD Graphics Cards:

Right-click on the blank desktop screen.
Open the AMD Radeon Software from the context menu.
Go to the Display tab > Click on Image Sharpening.
Now, you’ll need to adjust the Sharpness slider to your preference.
After doing the same, save the changes & check for the visual improvements.

13. Disable CPU/GPU Overclocking

If none of the workarounds did come in handy then make sure to perform a factory reset to the CPU/GPU overclocking feature from the respective overclocking software. Even though CPU/GPU overclocking improves the overall performance and visual enhancements, sometimes it may trouble in gameplay experiences.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. For those who are experiencing specific issues like getting stuck on the loading screen, crashing issue, Stuttering, C++ Redistributable Error, Hardware Not Supported, or Textures Not Loading in Game, it’s recommended to click on the provided link to get detailed troubleshooting steps and possible solutions. Always ensure your systems are up-to-date, and be patient as fixes and updates roll out.