Illinois DLC Release

It's so exciting when something you've been working on for quite some time is finally done. Today is the day, as the long-awaited Illinois DLC for American Truck Simulator is ready to welcome its first truckers!

The Illinois DLC releases today around 18:10 CEST

9:10 AM PDT, 11:10 AM CDT, 12:10 PM EDT, 5:10 PM BST, 8:10 PM GST, 12:10 AM SGT⁺¹, 2:10 AM AEST⁺¹, and 4:10 AM NZST⁺¹

We announced Illinois in February 2025, and since then, our asset and map designers have done some amazing work on bringing it to life for our #BestCommunityEver. As we brought you updates on this DLC in the past year, we have seen your amazing feedback and excitement about this map expansion. We are so happy that today, we are finally able to explore it! And believe us, there's so much to discover.

Make the most of your visit to the wonderful Prairie State and enjoy every moment as you:

• Explore 11 faithfully recreated cities, such as Chicago, Springfield, Rockford, and Peoria!
• See iconic landmarks like Chicago’s Buckingham Memorial Fountain, the Springfield State Capitol, or the Rock Valley College, and a meticulously recreated downtown in Rockford.
• Deliver cargo to brand-new industries, including a construction equipment factory and dealer, marinas on Lake Michigan and Rend Lake, and Chicago's famous international airport.
• Discover 7 scenic towns (settlements) like Macomb or Chenoa.
• Drive from the starting point of the legendary Route 66 in Chicago!
• Explore stunning natural locations including Rend Lake, the Mississippi River, Shawnee National Forest, and Lake Michigan.
• Become the vital link in Illinois’ national rail network, picking up cargo from Chicago’s Intermodal hub and delivering it by truck across the state.
• Enjoy varied driving conditions, from wide-open plains, hilly and forested areas to bustling urban streets in big cities.
• Uncover hidden gems across Illinois, from hidden roads and viewpoints to easter eggs and more!

From vibrant cities like Chicago, one of the Midwest's most iconic cities, to breathtaking landscapes shaped by the Mississippi River, winding past picturesque towns, there will be no shortage of new and beautiful locations to explore and haul some cargo. If you own some of our already released DLCs, you will also be able to travel the full length of the legendary Route 66 with the release of Illinois!

Release Live Stream

Don't forget about our special Release Live Stream, which is going to start today at 3 pm CEST. We will introduce some special guests, including the CEO of SCS Software, Pavel Šebor, who will tell you more about this new map expansion while we drive through Illinois. Towards the end of the live stream, we will officially release the Illinois DLC together, so make sure to be there!

We are eager for you to start trucking in the Prairie State. Remember to tag us in your photos and videos from this map expansion using the hashtag #CruisingIllinois on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky. If you'll enjoy your time in Illinois, we'd really appreciate it if you left a review on its DLC Steam store page. We thank you for all your support, and until next time, happy haulin'!

ATS Volvo VNL 2025 + Volvo VNR Electric Release

Today, we’re excited to bring not one, but two new additions to American Truck Simulator! Whether you prefer the power and comfort of long-haul trucking or the cutting-edge innovation of electric mobility, this update delivers something special for every kind of driver. Introducing the all-new 2025 Volvo VNL and Volvo VNR Electric!

From refined aerodynamics and driver-focused interiors to sustainable, zero-emission technology, both vehicles showcase Volvo’s commitment to innovation and performance. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these incredible trucks has to offer.

Volvo VNL 2025

The all-new Volvo VNL arrives in American Truck Simulator as a step forward in long-haul trucking. Designed with efficiency, comfort, and modern styling in mind, this truck is built to conquer the open road.

Players will immediately notice the redesigned exterior, featuring smoother lines and improved aerodynamics. Every detail has been carefully crafted, making it a perfect companion for those long interstate journeys.

Inside the cabin, the VNL focuses on ergonomics and accessibility, with a fully digital dashboard and thoughtfully placed controls ensuring maximum comfort during extended trips.

A wide range of customization options is also available, including chassis configurations, paint jobs, accessories, and much more. This also includes a special paint job for the SCS box trailer.

Under the hood, players can select from a variety of powerful engine options paired with smooth transmissions, delivering the performance and reliability expected from a modern long-haul truck.

Volvo VNR Electric

Alongside the VNL, we’re proud to introduce the Volvo VNR Electric, bringing the first electric truck to American Truck Simulator. While the VNL is a full-size truck that you can own, customize, and expand your fleet with, the VNR Electric is available exclusively through Quick Jobs, giving players a chance to experience electric trucking in a curated way.

This truck represents a modern era of transportation, designed primarily for urban and regional distribution. Its fully electric powertrain delivers smooth, quiet operation, offering a completely different driving experience compared to traditional trucks.

Visually, the VNR Electric stands out with its modern, clean design and distinctive lighting elements. The interior reflects the same philosophy, offering a sleek and functional workspace tailored for urban operations.

We’re incredibly excited to see you hit the road with both the Volvo VNL and the Volvo VNR Electric. Whether you’re hauling across states or navigating city streets, these trucks open up new experiences in American Truck Simulator.

We look forward to your feedback, screenshots, and stories from the road!

Until then, be sure to stay connected with us on our social media channels on X/Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, YouTube, and Instagram, and by subscribing to our newsletter so you don’t miss any future updates! Stay safe and happy haulin'!

Road Trip: Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody

For our Road Trip project in American Truck Simulator, we continue to expand a growing collection of legendary vehicles that feel perfectly at home cruising endless highways and scenic byways across America. Today, we’re excited to share a work-in-progress look at the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody, one of the most iconic American muscle cars of modern times.

Few vehicles represent contemporary American muscle quite like the Challenger. The Hellcat Widebody stands as a bold statement from an era when muscle cars reached new heights of power, presence, and character, while still paying homage to the unmistakable design language that defined generations before it. It is already regarded as a modern legend, a car that proudly carries the spirit of American performance into the present day.

The Dodge Challenger has always been about more than numbers on paper. It’s about attitude, confidence, and the feeling of pointing a long hood toward the horizon. The Hellcat amplifies all of that with its aggressive stance, widened bodywork, and unmistakable road presence.

In Road Trip, this vehicle is about experiencing the vastness of North America from behind the wheel of an automotive icon, cruising historic highways, rolling through small towns, and stopping to admire the diverse landscapes and landmarks that define each state. This is the kind of car meant for memorable journeys, where the drive itself is just as important as the destination.

With every new Road Trip vehicle, our team continues to raise the bar for visual fidelity, and the Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody is no exception. From the muscular exterior proportions to carefully crafted interior details, our vehicle artists are paying close attention to materials, lighting, and overall authenticity to ensure the car feels believable and immersive within the world of American Truck Simulator.

Whether parked at a scenic overlook or cruising under changing skies, we want this Challenger to look and feel right in every situation, making each Road Trip experience more atmospheric and visually rewarding.

We’re looking forward to sharing more updates as the Road Trip project evolves. Please remember that this car is still a work in progress, and further refinements are planned as development continues. With legendary vehicles like the Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody, we aim to clearly set expectations: Road Trip is about exploration, atmosphere, and celebrating American automotive culture on the open road, one unforgettable journey at a time.

Ready to hit the road in style? Be sure to add the RAM & Dodge Car Pack for American Truck Simulator to your Steam Wishlist today! To stay up to date with the latest development news for Road Trip, don’t forget to follow our blog, subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on X/Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Instagram.

British Columbia: Building Canada with Patrix

Today, we’re taking a closer look behind the scenes of Building Canada, focusing on the creation of British Columbia and what it takes to bring it into American Truck Simulator. We spoke with Patrix, our Map Technical Lead for ATS, who shared his perspective on how this ambitious new region is being brought to life and how the new road networks are being made.

"Hi, my name is Patrik (also known as Patrix). Over the past 15 exciting years at SCS Software, a mix of good fortune and personal dedication has taken me on quite a journey, from starting as a junior map designer on Euro Truck Simulator 2 just months before its release, to my current role as a Technical Lead working on American Truck Simulator."

"It's a pleasure and a big responsibility to be trusted by the company in terms of technical knowledge and pipeline correctness. In my early years, I recall breaking a lot of technical rules to achieve any sort of visual that was (or could be) considered nice. Doing that, I was many times inevitably instructed by experienced senior colleagues about how the game engine works and why I should be careful about overloading hardware with random details or items in map scenes."

"As years flew by, I became more responsible and stood rather rational about the complexity of the map and shaped a pretty exact vision of where the limits are and how the map should be done, so that it works smoothly on any computer and is also accessible to maintenance, which is critical for projects that live on for more than 10 years, just like ATS recently proved to be able to."

"Right now, my responsibility is to set and maintain a certain technical consistency in terms of how our map is being done across the entire ATS, which means syncing the attitude towards map creation across several projects and across different map teams."

"When our CEO, Pavel Šebor, approached us initially with the idea of going north to British Columbia, we immediately knew it would be a challenge. With its significance for the future of ATS, British Columbia reminds me of the times when we worked on Texas. Both were to be bigger than regular DLCs and should also carry a lot of specific new content. Logically, as we are going to another country in ATS for the very first time, we had to prepare a new set of road signage, both vertical and horizontal. Vertical signage are road-side signs, and those in Canada are very similar to the ones in the United States."

"Small things like font differences, dimensions, or rules for placement are exactly those little details we are looking for and following, so that our community of experienced drivers will immediately recognize that they are in Canada, even from unspecified random screenshots."

"Just like we did for the US, we read lots of Canadian documentation to get things right. One of the more complicated decisions was to pick the correct width of road lines. If documentation gives you a variety, what would you pick? The middle, one of the edge cases, or the most common? Also, how would we know from Prague what the most common roadline width is in Canada? When we found answers to these initial questions, even bigger issues appeared with implementation. For our Prism3D engine, different roadlines mean lots of new data that we had to create. Our in-game roads are made from templates of roads and more complex baked segments that we call prefabs. So if we wanted a slightly different yellow and a little wider/narrower lines, it meant making hundreds of road templates and prefabs to be able to bring this detail into British Columbia."

"Another part of my role as technical leader is to check all city layouts and compare their ambitions to the rest of the map, so that we stay consistent in the way we shape the game world."

"Now, British Columbia is actually pretty huge, but just like in many other cases, it is disproportionally balanced in terms of city spacing. The area around Vancouver is surrounded by a huge agglomeration of suburbs, and even cities across the water, like Victoria, were challenging in terms of where to put them on our map scale. Obviously, we had to sacrifice some bridges or interesting road pieces near Vancouver, but on the other hand, we will bring both border crossings from the US to Canada below Vancouver. The one at Interstate 5 is now relevant since we know our car-driving module, Road Trip, is on the way."

"I hope that players will truly enjoy exploring British Columbia and come to appreciate the sheer scale and ambition behind the project. While bringing a brand-new map like this to life comes with its fair share of challenges, it’s also been an incredibly fun and rewarding experience for the team, one we’re excited to share with the community."

We hope you enjoyed this peek behind the curtains of this upcoming expansion. Don't forget to add the British Columbia DLC to your Steam wishlist! Make sure to follow us on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube, or sign up for our newsletter for future updates. Until next time, happy haulin'!