California not the only one state which will be on ATS release day!

BY ATS mods · January 17, 2016

It’s time to respond to the avalanche of questions coming our way concerning our plans for the initial edition of American Truck Simulator and its post-release future.

The day one release will contain the state of California. That was always the plan.

We are happy to confirm that on February 3rd, we will also have the state of Nevada fully ready for release. We were still not sure about Nevada’s finish-line when the game box packaging design was being finalized, so the boxes sitting on retail shelves will put the spotlight on California, but there is actually more coming your way right out of the gate. In short, DLC Nevada will be a free game update for everyone, no matter where or when you will have bought the game, available immediately on official release date.

It is also public knowledge by now that we are hard at work on the state of Arizona. On the packaging of the retail box, there is actually an explicit statement that DLC Arizona will unlock for owners of this game edition when it’s eventually finished. We are delighted to confirm that Arizona DLC will also be a free game update for everybody. You will just have to wait for it a little bit longer, this part of the world is still under development.

You do not really have to worry about the particular channel where to purchase the game, whether it’s on Steam, in any other digital store, or in a bricks-and-mortar shop, the playable content will be the same for everybody.

Actually, we should also mention that next to this base release, several retail publishers have decided to also offer a richer (and more expensive) edition of the game on release, calling it Collector’s Edition. These bigger cardboard boxes are surely nicer, they contain a cool selection of additional merchandise items, so it would be for example a very cool birthday gift with extra value. But when it comes to the game itself, the installation media is the same, and the same set of DLCs will be unlocked for those buying this special edition of the game as will for people with the regular edition of the game.

Recommended price of the game is going to be $20/€20, though it is to be expected that for alternate currencies, some local market specifics and the need to display a nice round figure may cause slight variations.

We surely do not plan to stop working on American Truck Simulator world with Arizona. However, please be aware that the road ahead of us is long, and it will take us years to cover the continent. We will continue to add features to the game with regular free updates, but most further map expansion DLCs, if not all, will be paid. We have had to pick a business model allowing us to build more than ten times the amount of content compared to what we are launching with. If you are looking forward to drive coast to coast, you will not be able to do that now, and it will cost you more eventually than the price of the initial purchase.

It would be great to get the chance to reach the East Coast, it would be fabulous to be able to push north towards at least 60 degs latitude and south towards the Equatorial. But ultimately, it is up to you, our fans, if this happen – you will vote with your wallets. We expect to get the right guidance from you on future growth of our team to handle the new opportunities and challenges.

Thank you for your patience and support!