https://www.pcgamesn.com/cities-skylines-2/performance
Cities Skylines 2 PC performance does not reach internal benchmarks, but Paradox will still release CS2 on time, as we also learn about Cities Skylines 2 mods.
I'm fine with this, honestly. I'd prefer more devs do this instead of pushing back releases at the last minute or forcing their teams to crunch.
I totally agree with you, but the issue is that often times it's hard to justify a delay when you're working with publishers or external investors. What I find unhealthy in the industry is that, oftentimes, companies simply can't afford to delay the release because they've signed documents that lock in that date, or that could affect the companies income during the delay. This obviously isn't universal, but it's something that I've seen first-hand, having worked in the videogames industry.
Or just release it as early access with a 5€ discount or something. That way people who don't give a shit about the optimization can get it early while the rest gets the full release (Baldur's Gate 3 was in Early Access for a long while for example)
Although I think in this case it's a bit more complicated. The marketing campaign was rather large so I think they thought they could deliver on time but ultimately were unable to do so. This is likely also why we are hearing only now about mods, they were still working on it with the hopes of making it in time and had to make a judgement call last minute - in this case to delay the modding tools until after release.