American Truck Simulator (ATS) is a truck simulator game developed and published by SCS Software. It was announced on September 6, 2013[1] and released on February 2, 2016[2]. It can be considered a spiritual successor to the 18 Wheels of Steel franchise. In February 2016 it reached an all-time peak of 19,138 players [3]. The latest version update for American Truck Simulator is 1.49.2.8.
Before you start your career as a ground logistics manager, you will first have to create your profile. You will choose your avatar, your name, your preferred truck, and your company logo. You will then choose your difficulty level (the higher, the more realistic). Before you start your multi-million dollar logistics company, you will first have to complete quick jobs using provided trucks. Before purchasing your first truck, you must earn at least $100,000 or obtain a loan from the bank. As the player completes jobs and levels up, they will unlock skills. Skills can be used to upgrade fuel efficiency and long distance cargoes as well as unlocking hazardous, fragile, and important deliveries. Eventually, once you gain enough, you can buy a new garage or upgrade your original, which will allow you to store more trucks. From this point you can hire NPC drivers from a recruitment agency and provide each with a truck from a truck dealership to earn even more cash.
A feature that has been unique in American Truck Simulator is that truckers have to choose where to unload the cargo they are hauling when they reach the destination depot, a function that has been introduced later to Euro Truck Simulator 2. A "desired spot" (which gives out more experience points but is harder to park) and a "safe spot" (easier to park but with fewer experience points) are usually available at every depot. Alternatively, the trucker can skip parking with the price of forfeiting all parking experience points.
Although American Truck Simulator currently only features 13 states out of 50 (and it is unlikely that the entire US map will be completed anytime soon), all states are immense and detailed and feature long roads and large cities for players to explore. It takes about three hours in real time to travel from Bellingham, Washington to Brownsville, Texas in game, meaning it will be a very large game once the entire map is completed.
The base game featured the states of California and Nevada on release, with a total of 30 cities (now 31). Arizona was released four months later as a free DLC, adding 15 cities (now 16). The newest DLC, released on August 1, 2023 added the state of Oklahoma with 10 cities. In total, there are currently 191 cities implemented.
The scale of the map was 1:35 on release. On June 23, 2016, SCS Software announced that the scale would be changed to 1:20 (1.75x larger), approximately matching the 1:19 scale in Euro Truck Simulator 2.[4] The rescale was implemented in update 1.5 released on December 12, 2016.[5] It also included Santa Maria, a completely reworked Oxnard, and countless additions and improvements to the map.
During the 2020 Christmas live stream, SCS Software revealed that, as the oldest state in American Truck Simulator, California would be reworked to reflect current mapping standards.[6] The rework was officially announced on May 7, 2021.[7] For more information, see California#Rework.
Unlike Euro Truck Simulator 2, where every city has a garage other than dedicated ones like seaports and nuclear power plant locations, the majority of cities in American Truck Simulator do not feature a garage. The list below shows all cities in each state that contain a garage.
Cities with bolded names are capitals of their respective states.
New Mexico: Albuquerque, Farmington, Las Cruces, Roswell, Santa Fe
Oklahoma: Lawton, McAlester, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Woodward
Oregon: Bend, Eugene, Medford, Ontario, Portland, Salem
Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Del Rio, El Paso, Fort Stockton, Houston, Laredo, Lufkin, McAllen, Odessa, San Antonio, Texarkana
Utah: Moab, Price, Salt Lake City, St. George, Vernal
This adds the state of Arkansas to the game. This DLC has yet to be released.
American Truck Simulator - Nebraska
This adds the state of Nebraska to the game. This DLC has yet to be released.
American Truck Simulator - Kansas
This adds the state of Kansas to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on November 30, 2023.
American Truck Simulator - Oklahoma
This adds the state of Oklahoma to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on August 1, 2023.
American Truck Simulator - Texas
This adds the state of Texas to the game. The DLC costs $17.99 / £14.99 / €17,99 and was released on November 15, 2022.
American Truck Simulator - Montana
This adds the state of Montana to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on August 4, 2022.
American Truck Simulator - Wyoming
This adds the state of Wyoming to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on September 7, 2021.
American Truck Simulator - Colorado
This adds the state of Colorado to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on November 12, 2020.
American Truck Simulator - Idaho
This adds the state of Idaho to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on July 16, 2020.
American Truck Simulator - Utah
This adds the state of Utah to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on November 7, 2019.
American Truck Simulator - Washington
This adds the state of Washington to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on June 11, 2019.
American Truck Simulator - Oregon
This adds the state of Oregon to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on October 4, 2018.
American Truck Simulator - New Mexico
This adds the state of New Mexico to the game. The DLC costs $11.99 / £8.99 / €11,99 and was released on November 9, 2017.
American Truck Simulator - Arizona
This adds the state of Arizona to the game. This DLC is free and can be downloaded immediately upon purchase of the base game. This DLC was released on June 6, 2016.
System Requirements
System Requirements as of September 30th, 2023.[8]
