Cities: Skylines

 PC
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,829 out of 2115
  2. Mixed: 202 out of 2115
  3. Negative: 84 out of 2115
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  1. WhiteNoisetrash
    Mar 13, 2015
    7
    The fact that this IS the best city builder we have seen in years, I don't think that justifies giving it a top rating.
    This is a great city builder, it has potential to become one of the best. It does distance itself from the previous king of it all (Simcity 4, In my opinion) by trying to be new and fresh like the later Simcity of 2013.
    The game plays like the 2013 version of Simcity,    The fact that this IS the best city builder we have seen in years, I don't think that justifies giving it a top rating.
    This is a great city builder, it has potential to become one of the best. It does distance itself from the previous king of it all (Simcity 4, In my opinion) by trying to be new and fresh like the later Simcity of 2013.

    The game plays like the 2013 version of Simcity, but does better - yet the overall finish of the game feels a bit clunky and not as polished as it could have been.
    The sim part itself seems fair and well made, yet it's unclear which parts are simulated, which are not and so on - and it seems very easy to get started, which may be good but it kind of lacks the challenge.

    It looks good and plays well, definitely the best city builder game seen since Simcity 4.    … Expand
  2. torojoh
    Mar 13, 2015
    10
    Great game, with enormous potential to be even greater in the coming months/year with user made mods. GOTD! (Game of the decade!) for me personally. Buy this game.
  3. Linkraa
    Mar 12, 2015
    10
    One of the best city builders I've ever played. The level of detail in the game is mind boggling.

    So far I've spent 10-12 hours playing this game, my population is at 18 thousand, the map is ENORMOUS and there are so many things to do. From highways onramps, to train routes, to bus lines, to metro stations, to high densities to zoning districts, this game is fascinating. I spent    One of the best city builders I've ever played. The level of detail in the game is mind boggling.

    So far I've spent 10-12 hours playing this game, my population is at 18 thousand, the map is ENORMOUS and there are so many things to do.

    From highways onramps, to train routes, to bus lines, to metro stations, to high densities to zoning districts, this game is fascinating.

    I spent 10 minutes following a tourist on my bus routes to the parks she visited to renaming industry to funny names. This game is honestly one of the best, if not the best city builder I've ever played and I AM a huge SimCity 2000 and SimCity 4 fanatic.

    You won't regret spending your money on this game, I can't recommend it enough!    … Expand
  4. iMatrix7
    Mar 12, 2015
    10
    For more than 10 years I've been waiting for this title.

    And finally, the March 10, 2015, Paradox arrive with this Masterpiece! Absolutely a perfect title from the day one, it's basically the game that had to be Simcity 2013. This one has the best features of Simcity 4, Simcity 2013, Cities XL, without bad features! Fully supported by Colossal devs and Paradox, it's absolutely hard not    For more than 10 years I've been waiting for this title.

    And finally, the March 10, 2015, Paradox arrive with this Masterpiece! Absolutely a perfect title from the day one, it's basically the game that had to be Simcity 2013.
    This one has the best features of Simcity 4, Simcity 2013, Cities XL, without bad features! Fully supported by Colossal devs and Paradox, it's absolutely hard not to describe this game as the best city simulator ever actually on the videoludic world.

    10/10. You deserved it.    … Expand
  5. threepm
    Mar 12, 2015
    10
    This has filled the void in my city planner alternate universe life. I have been hoping and waiting for a city builder to live up to Simcity4. This has done just that. I already have almost 24 hours logged of gameplay and it's only been out for 3 days. Already over 2500 mods in the steam workshop and more added every hour. This game is fantastic and highly recommended.
  6. Joped
    Mar 12, 2015
    10
    This is the game I have been searching for since Simcity 4. Good city builders are very hard to come by. Sure, there are some minor annoyances in how traffic is currently being simulated. It is however substantially better than the options in Simcity 5.

    The maps are a great size, 9 tiles is so awesome to play with. Plus mods to make it up to 25 if your system can handle it! With    This is the game I have been searching for since Simcity 4. Good city builders are very hard to come by. Sure, there are some minor annoyances in how traffic is currently being simulated. It is however substantially better than the options in Simcity 5.

    The maps are a great size, 9 tiles is so awesome to play with. Plus mods to make it up to 25 if your system can handle it!

    With the mods support and commitment from the company to fully support moders I believe this game will be around for the long haul.    … Expand
  7. zane411
    Mar 12, 2015
    9
    Everything about this game works exactly the way you want it to, though I can list a few features I feel are missing that would bring this from a 9 to a 10.

    1. Circle roads tool
    2. Ability to 'paint' trees like you paint much everything else
    3. A brief tutorial would have been appreciated
  8. Sawt00th
    Mar 12, 2015
    10
    Boom!! What a game, at last. Great little studio that has lovingly crafted a beautiful and breathing city builder. Progression is quick and fluid. Could do with some balancing in terms of the large bank roll you acquire quickly and the number of service buildings required based on the road map. But outside of that it is perfectly well executed. Graphics could do with a little polish, not aBoom!! What a game, at last. Great little studio that has lovingly crafted a beautiful and breathing city builder. Progression is quick and fluid. Could do with some balancing in terms of the large bank roll you acquire quickly and the number of service buildings required based on the road map. But outside of that it is perfectly well executed. Graphics could do with a little polish, not a big fan of the grainy textures. One tip: Plan your artery roads very very well!!!!!… Expand
  9. Zabslol
    Mar 12, 2015
    10
    This is an amazing game! I love how it feels and how it looks. I have always liked SimCity 5, but the building space was so small... Cities: Skyline, have really made the building space big and nice.
    Thank you paradox Interactive, for bringing hours and hours of fun to my life. ;-)
  10. ShottyMonster
    Mar 12, 2015
    8
    Great game, really optimized (smooth as silk), huge cities, real infrastrucure. It's a true successor to SC4.

    HOWEVER it's far too easy (even with hard mode mod)
  11. dadoitz
    Mar 11, 2015
    9
    This is the first time that ive enjoyed a game so much that i've felt compelled to sign up and post a review. Firstly the games runs great and very smooth, the attention to detail is astounding and the game play mechanics are great, there is the odd bug which i'm sure CO will iron out. in time. The real draw card i feel is the modding capabilities of the game, this game will endure forThis is the first time that ive enjoyed a game so much that i've felt compelled to sign up and post a review. Firstly the games runs great and very smooth, the attention to detail is astounding and the game play mechanics are great, there is the odd bug which i'm sure CO will iron out. in time. The real draw card i feel is the modding capabilities of the game, this game will endure for years to come. Great job CO & Paradox!!… Expand
  12. noobratingames
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    An amazing entry into an emaciated genre. I can't remember the last time I spent an 8 hour sitting in a city building game, nevertheless making a review for one. Excellent launch product along with much more to come thanks to modding and long term dev support.

    Even more amazing than the game is that it was created by a team of 13 people! Congrats go out to everyone at Colossal Order.    An amazing entry into an emaciated genre. I can't remember the last time I spent an 8 hour sitting in a city building game, nevertheless making a review for one. Excellent launch product along with much more to come thanks to modding and long term dev support.

    Even more amazing than the game is that it was created by a team of 13 people! Congrats go out to everyone at Colossal Order. Ridiculous and inspiring that they pulled off what a giant and over budget (also dead as of a couple of days ago...rip Maxis) team at EA could not.    … Expand
  13. nonotz
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    its very hard to review this game without mentioning 'SimCity'. So, how do you make a perfect city building game ? just copy SimCity but listen to community. (the actual community , not the "community" EA keeps talking about) . Cities : Skylines delivers just that , even with some improvement !.
    - Integration with Steam Workshop
    - Massive playable land size , - Amazing terrain editor    its very hard to review this game without mentioning 'SimCity'. So, how do you make a perfect city building game ? just copy SimCity but listen to community. (the actual community , not the "community" EA keeps talking about) . Cities : Skylines delivers just that , even with some improvement !.
    - Integration with Steam Workshop
    - Massive playable land size ,
    - Amazing terrain editor
    - Stunning water simulation (seriously , try the water sim by building a massive dam on a river with strong current)

    The game is not without any flaw(s) though. But most of the flaws are pretty minor. Here's some :
    - Pixely-ish texture for the assets (probably to keep the game run smoothly on lower end pc )
    - Not enough variation (same building everywhere) , but there will be DLC and Steam workshop (There's already some assets in the workshop)
    - Lack of Information (The building are just abandoned , but WHY ??!?!? )
    - Twitter-Like feature with right-on-your-face positioning and repetitive text.

    well with all those minor issues , the game is still an amazing piece of city building game ....

    What are you waiting for ?!?
    go out there and throw your money at the developer ....    … Expand
  14. FogCityRoller
    Mar 11, 2015
    9
    This is the quintessential city builder and the most incredible addition to the simulator genre since my childhood days of "reticulating splines..." It's no secret that the more recent installations from Maxis were underwhelming at best. Paradox has more than delivered with this gem. I found it to be extremely intuitive, immediately captivating, and regrettably addictive. You need to paceThis is the quintessential city builder and the most incredible addition to the simulator genre since my childhood days of "reticulating splines..." It's no secret that the more recent installations from Maxis were underwhelming at best. Paradox has more than delivered with this gem. I found it to be extremely intuitive, immediately captivating, and regrettably addictive. You need to pace yourself with this puppy because it is easy to lose hours of your life building up the next metropolis. My only slight peeve, and the reason this fell short of a perfect 10, is that the population requirements for some features seem a bit egregious. Certain, shall we say, basic necessities are withheld in the beginning of the game and an unseasoned player can get the feeling that it takes FOREVER to obtain solutions for issues that can become problematic very quickly.… Expand
  15. LastMammoth
    Mar 11, 2015
    7
    Game is good. Good but not great or perfect, obviously.

    First of all - this is really one of the few games for the last days, which started and worked "from the box". No massive critical errors, crashes and bugs. Game was finished, polished and released in good condition. This game don't ask us to be a beta testers for our own money. THIS - is nice rare exception in game development    Game is good. Good but not great or perfect, obviously.

    First of all - this is really one of the few games for the last days, which started and worked "from the box". No massive critical errors, crashes and bugs. Game was finished, polished and released in good condition. This game don't ask us to be a beta testers for our own money. THIS - is nice rare exception in game development nowdays.

    I will not tell you much about "how good it is" - you can see all info about the game in pre-release trailers and notes.
    I just would say that this game considered many mistakes of last SimCity. Added many new interesting features and micromanagement abilities.

    But... Some things I don't like:

    - game is VERY easy. You can set the city fast and leave it for an hour. When you come back - it will still leave and bring money. Fire, diseases, criminal and other stuff - will not bring it down. Game don't bring any challenge.
    - it is unbalanced : little city will ask for big number of firestations (big and small), but it will be enough to set just 1-2 little hospitals and just even 1 police station.
    - pollutiondon't bring any problems. When there is a factory or trash dump on the land - it has local pollution, not spreading by the wind or any other way. If you remove this building - land becomes clean as heaven's garden in a moment.
    - there is no wind direction. You can set factory anywhere you want - polution over the wind doesn't matter.
    - there is no any option to set a grid on the land - for planning roads and city.
    - Setting road bends is very low controlled. Easy on small distances, but very problematic on big distances.( setting grid on the land could give some help with that - but there is no such option, as I already said)
    - (!!!) there are one-direction roads to set, but no exit and entrance ramps. This is most thing I don't like. If I try to connect one-way directed road like an exit or entrance ramp - it becomes to be an intersection with traffic lights. So it creates traffic jams, while rams was seted to avoid it.
    - 1 bus station can work only on 1 route. For any new route you will need new bus station = LOL
    - there is no such depth in trading, resource gaining, producing comparing to SimCIty.

    Well, there are many other such small (or big) things I don't like about this game. Game fixed, added and expanded many features from SimCity, but also ignored many other good features from it.

    So:
    release with no critical bugs and crashes - 10/10
    no freezes, stable - 10/10
    graphics and picture - 7/10
    music - 6/10
    unbalanced and too easy, brings no challenge - 5/10
    -------------
    My overall score - 7/10

    I hope developers will fix balance and add more depth in game. Will see.
    Have a good game!    … Expand
  16. pinball123
    Mar 11, 2015
    7
    An enjoyable game but a little too simple. Works well but even as a beginner it only takes a few hours to get your city to be moving a long at a sustainable rate where you have more money than you can spend and just end up constantly expanding with out hitting any real challenges besides putting in better roads. Needs more in the form of disasters or tougher management of things likeAn enjoyable game but a little too simple. Works well but even as a beginner it only takes a few hours to get your city to be moving a long at a sustainable rate where you have more money than you can spend and just end up constantly expanding with out hitting any real challenges besides putting in better roads. Needs more in the form of disasters or tougher management of things like crime/healthcare/homelessness etc.… Expand
  17. juaner
    Mar 11, 2015
    9
    Well I being waiting this game since 1 of February, I was reading and looking after everything they upload to the internet, videos everything! I was rely HYPE for this game. Since the 3rd of March I was seeing day after day streamers playing this game I couldn't wait to play it!

    And yeah the game is awesome, some mistakes from the traffic AI and missing something’s they promised to put    Well I being waiting this game since 1 of February, I was reading and looking after everything they upload to the internet, videos everything! I was rely HYPE for this game. Since the 3rd of March I was seeing day after day streamers playing this game I couldn't wait to play it!

    And yeah the game is awesome, some mistakes from the traffic AI and missing something’s they promised to put in time. (Like tunnels)

    I feel the game have a lot of potential, is rely good at this point! But is missing something, like missions and the feeling that you can specialize your city, like a gamble city or a tourism city.

    Traffic is like the most important thing to figure out; well they are the Dev of cities in motion... but please fix the AI problem fast!

    Missing also way to destroy your city. And weather.

    But in general 9/10

    The Steam work shop is the best idea of this game!    … Expand
  18. jedish3ep
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    This game is pretty much everything I wanted in a City building game.

    It has delivered in all the places where EA's latest simcity failed

    for the love of gaben, do not get this confused with the poor Cities XL games.

    If you were a fan of the classic Simcity 4, this will not disappoint you.

    highly recommend it
  19. Inq
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    I usually don't get mad easily - but upon reading the (fortunately few) negative reviews of this game I personally got worked up. There is obviously some room for interpretation in a game, but to give a 1/10 or even a 2/10 to a game that is obviously the best in its genre is (regardless of whether you like it) quite simply a sign that you're mentally challenged. Stay tuned for anI usually don't get mad easily - but upon reading the (fortunately few) negative reviews of this game I personally got worked up. There is obviously some room for interpretation in a game, but to give a 1/10 or even a 2/10 to a game that is obviously the best in its genre is (regardless of whether you like it) quite simply a sign that you're mentally challenged. Stay tuned for an explanation of my stance -

    If you like city builders, chances are you played SC4 - this game has been the go-to game for city building enthusiasts for a little more than a decade. Some people tried to bask in its glory (Cities (X)XL i'm looking at you) and there's even been a sequel - and we all know how those worked out.

    Cities Skylines takes all of the great features of SC4, does NOT dumb them down (this is a plus if your IQ is higher than that of a potato) and expands upon them (See traffic, Colossal Order has had lots of practice with traffic-based games and this one delivers too). In my 20 hours of gameplay so far I only noticed ONE bug, there is no always-online DRM **** and the graphics, while outdated, aren't something that sticks out as a bad thing. With the huge map sizes (up to about 25 times the space you had in SC5), decent amount of features and wonderfully bugfree engine you'll have lots of fun with this.

    Anyway, to the low score reviewers: You might not like this game, this is fine - give it a 6 or 7, but if you go ahead and give a 1 or 2 to a game that is clearly the the market leader in its genre you obviously are mentally challenged. As for that matter, I'd even call people stupid who rate the newest instance of Call of Duty 1 or 2 stupid - the publisher might be greedy and the game might be ultimately the same as the last 5, but 1/10 - really? Gain some perspective.    … Expand
  20. vunacar
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    Great game. Keeps all the cool, established features of SimCity series but delivers where Maxis failed, and adds new features like a very cool dynamic water system (I flooded half of my city thanks to a poorly placed hydro plant) and district system, and land purchase system that slaps SimCity's small maps. Basically you start on a map the size of SimCity map, and then dynamically buyGreat game. Keeps all the cool, established features of SimCity series but delivers where Maxis failed, and adds new features like a very cool dynamic water system (I flooded half of my city thanks to a poorly placed hydro plant) and district system, and land purchase system that slaps SimCity's small maps. Basically you start on a map the size of SimCity map, and then dynamically buy surrounding areas as your city grows. I bought 8 SimCity sized areas that are integrated into a single map, and I haven't passed 50 000 residents, so I have no idea how large you can go. The game also has a very cool elevation system for roads and tracks, which means you can twist and turn them on several layers across each other, it's very cool.

    Overall, I think this is the best city builder that I have ever played. It's very well optimized and stable, and for now I feel I actually need help in keeping me away from my computer as I have a tendency to play it for more hours that I probably should, and ignore my commitments...    … Expand
  21. dk3d
    Mar 11, 2015
    9
    I can't in all fairness give this game a perfect score but it comes close. SimCity2013 wasn't really even a playable game, I lost interest with SC2k13 in 15 minutes and found the graphics outdated and dull (can't understand how people thought they were great). Skylines is very very playable so far although there are a few annoyances like clicking the school icon both (a) shows the overlayI can't in all fairness give this game a perfect score but it comes close. SimCity2013 wasn't really even a playable game, I lost interest with SC2k13 in 15 minutes and found the graphics outdated and dull (can't understand how people thought they were great). Skylines is very very playable so far although there are a few annoyances like clicking the school icon both (a) shows the overlay on the map of school coverage, but (b) also picks up a school building as if to build it. So because of (b), I cannot actually click on a school to get info about it in this mode until I back out to regular map viewing mode. Kinda weird. But nothing to get upset about.

    Graphically, maybe it's me, but from a sheer "graphic" quality standpoint, Cities XL (or that series) is still the best, cleanest, Nicest AA and textures, game of the bunch. That game sucked, but that's not my point. Graphically, it was the best of these 3 with C:S coming in second. I find the lack of AA (even with it turned on) a bit rough around the edges. Moving around is just not a clean feeling, pixels in the distance flickering around, even at details maxed out. But from a "scale" and feeling like you are in fact looking at a big city with big distances, C:S gets the feeling across well.

    Despite both SC2k13 and this game using 2km grids, maybe it's the scale of the buildings of something but there is waaaay more space in THIS 2km grid than SimCity. In SC you felt your elbows bumping within 5 or 10 minutes. In This, playing several hours, I've yet to feel the need to expand yet beyond the first 2km grid although I do own another 2 to use.

    If my review sounds like I'm nitpicking, well I am because I'm giving it a 9, closer to 9.5, and basically I think by now everyone knows the good points. The "bad" points are few and mostly related to the visual presentation.

    My system is a desktop i5 with 16Gb of RAM, an Nvidia GTX 750ti, running at 1920x1080 and everything is silky smooth as far as FPS. Even Far Cry 4 with everything on runs like butter on this setup (40-50fps). But unlike FarCry, I think this game will tax both GPU and CPU equally especially more the CPU as the population grows. I can see that a laptop with onboard GPU might not be up to it.    … Expand
  22. dohgeh
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    Do not get confused by the disliking of the other Cities games. This one feels like it is non related to those games. I don't know how they stepped their game up so fast, but this is the best city builder game out there.

    Cities XXL was nothing new from the meh Cities XL. Cities Skylines is a massive improvement. It's the city building game everyone has wanted for years. Sim City 2013    Do not get confused by the disliking of the other Cities games. This one feels like it is non related to those games. I don't know how they stepped their game up so fast, but this is the best city builder game out there.

    Cities XXL was nothing new from the meh Cities XL. Cities Skylines is a massive improvement. It's the city building game everyone has wanted for years. Sim City 2013 was a HUGE disappointment and Cities XXL was a money grabber. Cities Skylines is well worth the 30 dollars, even if it was priced at sixty it still is a great deal! This is the best city building game since Simcity 4.

    There is so much content in this game to keep you busy for a long time. I know people who have put 30 hours into this game and are still playing. Did I mention that it has mod support? There are over a 100 mods on the Steam Workshop already. Cool. You don't even need mods. I do recommend them though, as they add a lot to this game.

    The only thing wrong with this game is the tutorials. It doesn't explain anything very well, but I can't think of a city builder that does. A few bugs here and there. Nothing major or gamebreaking.

    Please buy this game and tell Paradox that this is what we expect next time! Do not screw us again with the Cities XXL crap!    … Expand
  23. RamirezNL
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    Finally a game developer who listen to the community. Free and easy modding. Best game of 2015 for me. EA failed with sim city 2013 and destroyed the franchise. Now there is a new city building game thanks to paradox and colossal order.
  24. EarlGreyDrinker
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    I played this the other day. I have some minor problems with the roads system sometimes not being perfectly straight and causing a decrease in some RCI zoning space, but it's very minor.

    For the price, this game is worth it. Bye bye SimCity and EA. I hope the community from SimCity 4 will hop over and here and populate the Steam Workshop.
  25. liaoshoubin
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    So far it's good! This game fuses perfectly all the good things of both games, and corrects almost all the wrong things. This game is fully recommended!. Nice work!
  26. thegadfly44
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    Usually when I see 10s on Metacritic I assume their **** This isn't **** You can look at my reviews and see I'm harsh on games for the most part. This game is **** PHENOMENAL and everything that SimCity should have been. I was reserving judgement for awhile, but the moment I unlocked more territory for city expansion I was SOLD. This is a MUST HAVE for anybody who likes building cities.
  27. Avadon
    Mar 11, 2015
    8
    A very solid base that the community, as well as the developers, can build on.

    Negatives: No day/night cycle. No form of multiplayer. Traffic is iffy. Not a whole lot of variety in buildings. Sometimes lacks information about what is causing your city to fall apart. All those things are fixable though. With a couple of patches, DLC, as well as community mods, I am confident that    A very solid base that the community, as well as the developers, can build on.

    Negatives:
    No day/night cycle.
    No form of multiplayer.
    Traffic is iffy.
    Not a whole lot of variety in buildings.
    Sometimes lacks information about what is causing your city to fall apart.

    All those things are fixable though. With a couple of patches, DLC, as well as community mods, I am confident that a year from now this will be the best citybuilder ever released. Is it worth it RIGHT now though? If it was full price, I'd suggest you wait just a bit. But at 30$, it's a steal. Go for it.    … Expand
  28. 2CleverUsername
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    Absolutely amazing. A breath of fresh air after SimCity and Cities XL managed to both crap the bed on what should be a no-brainer.

    Also, FANTASISTC Linux support, working flawlessly on Day 1.

    If you have any love of City Builders, this is an absolute must-buy.
  29. PopTarts
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    Fantasitically solid. Look forward to what they could add on to make the very end game (20-50+ hours in one city) interesting. There's a ton of potential on top of the base of this game.
  30. IamDavej
    Mar 11, 2015
    10
    This is what Simcity5 and Cities XXL faild to be. Much World, Such City, Wow.
    You can even build your own buildings, citizens, cars, roadmodules, and more. Amazing.
    I am one of the few who actually liked Simcity 5. But this is so much better.
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Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best PC Game of 2015
13
#13 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 60 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 58 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 60
  3. Negative: 0 out of 60
  1. PCWorld
    Jan 21, 2016
    80
    Cities: Skylines somehow lives up to the unfair expectations heaped upon it, presenting one of the best city builders in years.
    Read full review
  2. Eurogamer Italy
    Aug 12, 2015
    80
    Cities: Skyline is the game SimCity should have been: a great game and a greater base for modders.
    Read full review
  3. DarkStation
    May 27, 2015
    100
    This game managed to be everything I had hoped it would be and then some, with all the wonderful attention to little details and customization options. Fans of the genre wont want to miss this one.
    Read full review
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