If I had to make a list of the things in life I have absolutely no interest in, trucks would be pretty near the top. And yet, I am obsessed with developer SCS Software’s Truck Simulator series of games. And so, following the news both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 are at long last making their way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, I’m here to convince you their soothing expanses of endless virtual highway might also be for you, even if you don’t know your backhaul from your bill of lading.
The downside to this whole not-being-into-trucks thing is, of course, that I’m a terrible guide through the series if you’re here for proper hobbyist reasons, so apologies in advance. For me, though, the appeal is not so much the allure of a Hopper Body and the promise of a lubricated Glad Hand, as it is the pure ASMR pleasures of hours spent in empty minded tranquility with naught for company but the swoosh of scenic vistas, the tick of an indicator, the quiet hum of an air-conditioned cabin, and the lulling rumble of rubber on road.
I’m being a little reductive, admittedly. Well, a lot actually. Even without delving deep into the Truck Simulator games’ more specialist particulars, there’s a lot to love. There’s the fundamental progression system that sees you doing odd jobs in loaned trucks and then scrambling up the XP tree to unlock new missions, or stockpiling enough cash that you’re able to buy your own truck, even start your own business with your own HQ. It’s not necessarily a particularly flashy package, but its basic structure is sound enough that it provides an additional layer of focus to your life on the open road. Chuck in the kind of cabin customisation that lets you scatter tatty souvenirs and pizza boxes around the place (honestly, I love this kind of nonsense), occasional community events, and a multiplayer mode enabling up to eight friends to form a convoy – a wonderfully, surprisingly hilarious recipe for chaos with the right (or wrong, depending on your perspective) people – and it’s brilliantly compelling, even if you don’t give a truck about trailers and the like.
As for the different flavours of sim coming to Xbox and PlayStation, both – if you’re not already aware – are fundamentally the same experience, just with a very obvious change of scenery between them. Personally, I’m far more partial to the big skies and breathtaking wilderness of American Truck Simulator than its European counterpart (the sheer uncanny weirdness of ETS2’s deeply unconvincing UK expansion was a bit of a turn-off when I tried it a fair few years back), but your mileage – no pun intended – will almost certainly vary.
Unfortunately, SCS’ Truck Simulator console announcement is almost completely devoid of specifics, so pretty much all we can say with certainty right now is that ATS and ETS 2 are on the way. I’d assume both will be pretty close to their PC counterparts (minus, perhaps, extended peripheral support and mod availability), especially after all the work SCS has done to improve controller support and upgrade the interface over time. It will, though, be interesting to see how the studio handles the games’ years of paid cosmetic, truck, and map expansion DLC. A couple of free packs-ins to help consoles catch up? Starter bundles? Nothing of the sort? Time will reveal all.
So there you go; American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 are finally making their way to Xbox Series X/S and PS5. And if the thought of the open road and an endless shifting horizon stirs even the faintest twinge of latent yearning, you’d do well to lean in. You too might discover a love for a virtual four-wheeled life of adventure hitherto unknown.
