American Truck Simulator: Where Next?

It has been a few days since the last DLC was released, so it is time for us to begin looking ahead in American Truck Simulator. While today is not quite the official reveal, we do have a small teaser from a brand-new destination currently in development for ATS, and we think some of you may already be able to guess where our journey will lead next.

Development on this project is still in its early stages, so we are not ready to share all the details just yet, including any release timeline. However, we couldn’t resist giving the #BestCommunityEver a tiny glimpse of what our teams have been working on behind the scenes.

From iconic roadside landmarks to stretches of highway surrounded by lush countryside, this upcoming map expansion will offer truckers a brand-new region of the United States to explore, haul through, and discover. Whether you enjoy cruising through bustling urban areas, navigating industrial hubs, or taking in scenic rural drives, there will be plenty waiting for you down the road.

Still unsure? Don’t worry, we have a screenshot for you to examine closely. We know our community is filled with expert detectives, and we are excited to see your guesses rolling in across the comments and social media.

As development continues, our map, asset, and research teams are hard at work recreating the atmosphere, industries, road networks, and landmarks that make this part of the United States unique. There is still a road ahead before we are ready to fully unveil this DLC, but we are already looking forward to sharing more about this journey soon.

We cannot wait to show you more when the time is right. Until then, stay up to date with the latest news, don’t forget to follow our blog, subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on X/Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Instagram. Until next time, keep on truckin’! 

1.60 Update: Improved Material System

In today's blog, we bring you another piece of the puzzle from the upcoming 1.60 update for both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator, which we hope will get our #BestCommunityEver very excited. In this update, we will be introducing the Improved Material System for the interior of selected trucks! Let's take a look.

The Improved Material System, which will be introduced in the 1.60 update for both games, significantly improves the lighting and visual quality of vehicle interiors in selected trucks. Its main focus is to enhance how interior materials react to light, which will result in a more readable, detailed, and visually pleasing cabin environment.

During the development of Project Road Trip, we implemented a wide range of visual and technical improvements. One of the most significant changes was a redesign of the materials used in vehicle interiors. 

This has been requested from our community for some time, as the previous system often made interiors appear too dark and flat, especially in scenes without direct lighting. As a result, it makes differences between materials such as leather, fabric, plastic, and metal far more apparent, even in low-light conditions.

"The main goal of the new technology was to bring more light into shadowed areas of vehicle interiors. The previous system struggled to handle indirect lighting in these situations, causing many details to be lost in darkness. The new solution uses multiple variants of dynamic cubemaps, allowing all materials to reflect their surroundings more naturally and respond to ambient light in a more realistic way. Environmental reflections are no longer limited to highly polished metallic surfaces. This change gives interiors significantly greater depth and readability," says our Vehicle Technical Leader, Daniel.

We have also carried out minor adjustments to the global lighting, primarily focused on exposure and contrast balancing, along with subtle visual refinements for bad weather conditions to achieve a more consistent and refined look. 

The development of this system took place in parallel with Project Road Trip, where its importance became even more apparent. Smaller, darker passenger vehicle interiors suffered from a lack of indirect light more than trucks with bright cabs and large windows, which often allow direct light to enter. Road Trip thus served as the ideal environment for developing and fine-tuning these technologies.

The entire system was designed from the start with the interiors of trucks in both games in mind, so the base games and their existing fleets will gradually benefit from these improvements as well. Throughout the entire process, we kept players with lower-end hardware in mind. We aimed to make the visual improvements as impactful as possible while minimizing the performance cost.

The first trucks to benefit from the Improved Material System will be the DAF NGD and MAN TG3 TGX models in ETS2. In ATS, players will see redesigned interiors for the Mack Anthem and the Western Star 49X. With future updates, we will gradually add this technology for other trucks across both games.

We hope this new feature has you looking forward to the 1.60 update even more, as it brings a major enhancement to these truck interiors and makes the view from the driver's seat better than ever! Please note that the Road Trip vehicles are not releasing with the 1.60 update.

Until next time, be sure to follow us on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube for all the latest updates. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter as well! See you out on the road, and keep on truckin'!

1.60 Update: Game Radio

Today, we are excited to share with our community a brand-new feature coming to both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator with the upcoming 1.60 update - Game Radio!

For many drivers, music and the open road naturally belong together. Whether you are cruising through the countryside at sunset, hauling cargo across busy interstates, or relaxing during a long night drive, the right soundtrack can completely change the atmosphere of your journey. With Game Radio, we wanted to take that experience much further than a simple music player.

Game Radio is a brand-new in-game radio system designed to deepen immersion, support roleplay, and make every drive feel more authentic. Rather than approaching radio as just another technical feature, we created a collection of stations with their own distinct identities, philosophies, moods, and sounds. This is Game Radio's first chapter - built on music, with more layers planned for the road ahead.

At launch, Game Radio will feature five unique radio stations:

Rust FM

Rust FM is a guitar-driven station bridging five decades of rock, from the psychedelic garage sounds of the late 60s all the way to modern indie. Built for drivers who enjoy raw riffs, extended solos, distortion, and live energy.

This station features, amongst others, Sorry and SASAMI, both on Domino Records. Sorry is a North London indie band whose debut was co-produced by James Dring of Gorillaz fame, while SASAMI is a classically trained French horn player from the Eastman School of Music who scored films and commercials before going solo. Also on the roster: Holiday Ghosts, a DIY duo from Cornwall who record on their own equipment and have built a devoted cult following in the UK underground. 

Escape

Escape is for drivers whose nervous systems are stretched thin, a place to slow down, settle in, and find some quiet. Lo-fi textures, jazzy chords, minimal beats. Escape is ideal for peaceful night drives and calm moments behind the wheel.

Escape is also currently the only stream-safe station available at launch, featuring StreamBeats by Harris Heller, a music library built by a streamer, for streamers. Its music is specifically licensed with streamers in mind, designed to help avoid copyright claims and support content monetization. Players will be able to enable Streamer Mode directly from the game menu.

PUMP IT!

PUMP IT! turns your truck cabin into a dance floor, built on hypnotic beats and precisely engineered production. This station is all about movement and intensity. Don't think it. Just feel it. Featuring Tony Romera, a French producer with official remixes for Calvin Harris and Diplo, and a #1 track on the Beatport Overall Charts, and KIDSØ, a Munich duo known for fully improvised live shows with live visual installations across the European festival circuit.

Pop Gear

Pop Gear runs on hooks, momentum, and dopamine. Designed to capture attention and trigger the irresistible urge for just one more song, the station thrives on the emotional highs of contemporary pop: modern production, catchy melodies, hook after hook. Featuring Palace Winter, a Copenhagen duo the New York Times called "a darkly intoxicating potion," and School of X, a Danish artist whose music moves between orchestral pop and raw electronics.

Roadio

Roadio is dedicated to American roots music that feels grounded, honest, and deeply connected to the spirit of the open road. Inspired by wide landscapes, truck stops, desert highways, and classic Americana, Roadio aims to become the perfect companion for long-distance hauls and quiet moments of reflection. Featuring Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, one of indie folk's most revered voices whose song "I See a Darkness" was covered by Johnny Cash; Grammy nominee and 2021 IBMA Songwriter of the Year Thomm Jutz; and New Zealand singer-songwriter Amber Lynn Nicol.

Game Radio features music from artists across some of the most respected independent labels in the world, including Domino Recording Company, home to Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, and Wet Leg, alongside Drag City, Ninja Tune, and independent artists who record and tour entirely on their own terms. Every track was chosen by hand, built to hold up across hundreds of hours of driving.

Game Radio Feature

Game Radio will expand the existing audio experience alongside the current Radio Stream (Online Radio) and Music Player systems, while also bringing a variety of improvements to music selection, user experience, and overall interaction with the in-game audio players.

In-game Widget

While driving, the Audio Player widget will appear above the navigation interface and display detailed playback information, including:

• Unique station name and icon
• Current song title
• Artist name
• Animated audio wave visualization
• Favorite station indicator

Players will also be able to customize the behavior of the widget through the Widget Options menu (F6), allowing them to tailor how and when radio information appears during gameplay. 

Support for Community-Created Stations

We are also excited to support creative possibilities for our modding community. Players will be able to create their own custom radio stations featuring their own music and share them with the community for playback, just like any other mods.

Game Radio has been designed to become part of the driving experience itself. Different stations can completely change the atmosphere of your journey, whether you are hauling cargo through dense urban traffic, crossing remote deserts, or enjoying scenic roads across Europe and North America.

This feature also brings improvements to the existing music and radio systems, creating a more seamless listening experience while driving.

We are incredibly excited to finally begin sharing more about Game Radio with our community, and we look forward to hearing which station becomes your favorite once 1.60 arrives. The stations you hear at launch are the foundation. Music comes first, and there is plenty more we want to build on top of it in the future!

Be sure to follow us on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube for all the latest updates. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter as well! See you out on the road, and until next time, keep on truckin’.

Iceland: Fjords

We are happy to bring you another preview from the upcoming Iceland map expansion for Euro Truck Simulator 2, as today, we are taking a closer look at the majestic fjords found in this country!

These glacier-carved inlets are an integral part of the Land of Fire and Ice landscape. They can be found in various locations around the island and are filled with wildlife, towering cliffs, and centuries-old fishing villages.

Capturing Iceland's stunning fjords on our scale presented a unique challenge. In reality, these vast landscapes stretch for kilometers, but at a reduced in-game scale, we needed to carefully balance realism with gameplay so they preserve their breathtaking character and don't lose the sense of grandeur that makes them so iconic.

As a result, players can look forward to routes that faithfully recreate the experience of driving on Iceland's coastline, driving long distances along winding coastal roads to reach the opposite side of a fjord that remains constantly in view, towering majestically beside them the entire journey.

What truly brought these landscapes to life was the presence of water itself. Countless waterfalls, winding streams, tranquil lakes, and bays add a sense of movement and atmosphere to the environment, making Iceland's fjords feel far more vibrant and dynamic than ordinary mountain scenery.

Our map designers also shared some insight into the process behind creating these landscapes. "One of the biggest challenges was modeling and texturing the fjords themselves, which took a considerable amount of time. At the same time, though, it was one of the most enjoyable tasks I've ever had the chance to work on. We also used satellite imagery to better understand how the fjord was formed, so we could design it to look natural even when viewed from different angles and distances," Jan explained.

"At first, the fjords made me feel as if I was looking at another planet. It was hard for me to grasp the sheer scale, size, distance, and shape of these natural formations. But after a while, I began to notice that all the shapes in the rocks have their own logic and continuity. That is exactly the feeling I want to convey to the player who will be driving through these routes. At first glance, they'll be amazed by the size and shape of the fjords, but at the same time, they'll have the chance to look around and understand how the landscape connects," says our map designer, Ashley.

Truckers will encounter a variety of unique locations, each with its own atmosphere. Seyðisfjörður, nestled deep within the bay of the same name, serves as one of the main gateways to Iceland thanks to the ferry connection from Hirtshals in Denmark. Further south in the Eastern Fjords lies Reyðarfjörður, home to an aluminum processing plant depot, while nearby Stöðvarfjörður captures the quiet charm of the Austfirðir region and its coastal settlements.

In the remote and sparsely populated region of the Westfjords, players will drive through Álftafjörður, probably the largest and most imposing fjord featured in this DLC. You will also be able to visit Ísafjörður, a small town built on a narrow headland in Skutulsfjörður, which stands as one of the key economic hubs in the western part of the map.

If you are excited to be trucking in this map expansion, don't forget to support us by adding the Iceland DLC to your Steam wishlist.

Also, remember to give our X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, and TikTok a follow as you'll receive updates from our games straight to your feed. Or subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed. Happy haulin'!

Illinois: Community Spotlight

Since the release of the Illinois DLC for American Truck Simulator, we’ve loved seeing all of your screenshots, videos, reviews, and trucking adventures from across the Prairie State. Watching you explore everything Illinois has to offer has been incredibly rewarding for our team, which is why we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of our favourite community content, as shared by you!

For those of you who may not have had the chance to hit the road in Illinois just yet, we wanted to highlight a few YouTube videos we enjoyed, to give you a glimpse of what awaits in this newest map expansion for ATS. We hope these inspire you to start your own journey through the Land of Lincoln! A big shoutout to everyone featured below, be sure to give them a subscribe and a like!







We’ve also been seeing plenty of amazing screenshots and videos shared across social media on X, BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more. Thank you to everyone who has tagged us, shared their adventures, and shown off their favourite areas of Illinois. Our teams genuinely enjoy scrolling through your photos and seeing your unique trucking setups and routes. Here are just a few that we liked!

@Xavior9 - X

u/AmtrakFan3450 - /r/TruckSim

@TruckerJohn302 - X

@Scoutalt - X

@Cobacoba9 - X

@Chibisuke9900 - X

We also want to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave reviews and feedback on Steam. Reading your comments and impressions means a lot to our developers, map designers, artists, and the entire team behind American Truck Simulator. Your support, suggestions, and enthusiasm continue to help shape the future of the game and motivate us every day. 

If you’ve been enjoying your time in Illinois, we’d really appreciate it if you considered leaving a review on the Illinois DLC Steam page. If you want to, you can still write a review for the Illinois DLC on its Steam page. We would really appreciate it! You can find the review section if you scroll to the bottom of the Illinois Steam page.

We have also reached out to a few content creators who got the opportunity to try out this DLC in early access to give us their opinion on the Illinois map expansion. It's safe to say they enjoyed it too! We also recommend checking out their channels for more content!

BadMae

"The Illinois DLC absolutely blew us away! Chicago is unlike anything we have experienced in American Truck Simulator so far; the scale, skyline, Lower Wacker Drive, Navy Pier, the L train, the Bears stadium, and even the International Trucks headquarters all made the city feel alive and incredibly immersive. What impressed us just as much was how smoothly the map transitions from the busy energy of Chicago into the farmlands, countryside, quarries, and smaller towns that give Illinois so much character. Thornton Quarry is a massive standout, and players who love exploring may want to do some extra hunting around Marion, too! Overall, Illinois easily ranks as one of our favorite ATS states. SCS truly knocked it out of the park, and we cannot wait to see what comes next with South Dakota!" - Christian and Monique, BadMae

RunawayLobster

"Illinois has now become my favorite American Truck Simulator DLC. The hidden beauty spots, the changing environments, and the pure detail and beauty of Illinois blew me away. With a couple of hidden roads I have discovered already, I had not realised how different the scenery would be. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Illinois and the beauty it had to offer. Hats off to the developers and artists working on this game who, at every opportunity, absolutely blow us away with the attention to detail. Thank you for this great addition to the already incredible American Truck Simulator game!" - RunawayLobster

Prime Simulations

"The Illinois DLC for American Truck Simulator is simply fantastic! To no surprise, SCS Software has once again raised the bar for map DLCs with Illinois - recreating cities, landmarks, industries, and more to an impressive level of accuracy. I had the absolute privilege of exploring the Illinois DLC during its early access phase - exploring every corner of the state! From Chicago to Marion, Quincy to Champaign, and every location in between - I can confidently say that the Illinois DLC is a "must have" for all ATS players - especially those who want to complete the Route 66 corridor! I look forward to exploring the Illinois DLC further and for the future of ATS!" - Prime Simulation

DaSimSimma

"The Illinois DLC already feels like a major step forward for American Truck Simulator, especially with Chicago. The city feels explorable and believable, and honestly, this might be the most detailed urban environment ATS has received yet. There’s a real sense of scale and atmosphere here that reminds me of actually visiting Chicago in real life, and I think that familiarity is part of what makes these newer DLCs feel so immersive. As ATS continues moving closer toward my home region around the Great Lakes, I honestly find myself getting more personally invested in every new state release." - DaSimSimma

Project Sim Racing

"SCS Software delivers yet another masterpiece with the Illinois DLC! The attention to detail and the sheer level of immersion make it an absolute joy to drive through. It’s always an honor to showcase your incredible work to my community." - Project Sim Racing

We would like to thank you all for your continued support! Keep on sharing your journeys through the Illinois DLC with us on our social media channels. Until next time, keep on truckin'!