Cities: when "Cities: Skylines" launched in 2015, one of the first mods to gain popularity was Killer. Literally. That mod assassinated Chirper, a noisy little blue bird that acted as an on-screen social media notification system for city builders in the game.

Obviously many players hated Chirper, myself included, but in retrospect, assassinating the little blue bird with a mod seems a bit mean-spirited; Chirper is, after all, trying to help by relaying messages from the little citizens of your city. Chirper's cries can tell you about problems such as power outages or bad weather, or they can give you citizen feedback on the appearance of the city, traffic conditions, or city policies enacted by the player.

However, as based on an actual social media app, Chirper can be quite annoying and sometimes just wants you to shut up. On the other hand, as seen with other annoying digital assistants like Microsoft's Clippy (opens in a new tab), over time a fondness for the annoying entity can form. I may not like Chirper much, but after 8 years ... Am I liking Chirper as well?

Cities: We don't know that many details about Cities: Skylines 2 (open in new tab) yet, and Colossal Order has said it is not prepared to reveal more than we already know until closer to the sequel's launch later this year. But while talking with Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen earlier today about the original Cities: Skylines, we couldn't help but draw out a little information about the sequel. It's important, world-shaking information. I wanted the scoop on Chaper. [Chaper is sort of the mascot of the game. 'Unintentional. Unintentional. I think it brings a different kind of humor and fun to the game than the city-building experience. And it is definitely part of the world and universe of Cities: Skylines.

"Yes, it is. Yes, there will definitely be a chaper in "Cities: Skylines 2": revealed Halikainen.

Halikainen also said that he was the one who came up with Chirper in the original Skylines. 'This feature was my idea,' he said. So I have very strong feelings about it. (I mean, "Give me a chance!"). (because I once saw her being interviewed wearing a shirt with a picture of Chirper chirping, "Give me a chance!)

"It was my only contribution, and as a result I think someone commented that it was a good thing that the CEO was not involved in game development.

But Halikainen clearly has a sense of humor about Chaper and doesn't seem to mind that not everyone agreed with the raucous little mascot.

"I think the sign of a really, really successful game is that you launch it and people only complain about the little blue bird. So, no hard feelings."