Who would’ve thought that American Truck Simulator—a game whose name already tells you exactly what you do—now lets you drive without trucks. The newly released “Road Trip: Ford” DLC lets players hop into regular Ford cars and cruise freely on American highways. And this seemingly “betrayal of the game’s core gameplay” actually pushed player numbers to an all-time high.
Player Count Breaks 20,000—Steam History Rewritten!
According to SteamDB data, American Truck Simulator’s peak concurrent players have reached 20,341, breaking the historical record since the game’s launch in 2016. The previous peak was 19,138—this time officially breaking the 20,000 mark. Developer SCS Software also announced on social platforms that over 20,000 players were online at the same time, with some driving trucks and others already experiencing the brand new “Road Trip: Ford” DLC.
Truck Drivers Punching Out?
The “Road Trip: Ford” DLC costs $8 (~$250 TWD / ~$62 HKD / ~RM32 MYR) and adds several licensed Ford vehicles, including the F-150, Bronco, Crown Victoria, and the 1967 Mustang. Players can not only drive these cars slowly cruising on highways, but also take on new delivery jobs—the gameplay that originally centered on hauling cargo with big trucks now has an extra “regular car road trip” route.
So What Players Really Want Is Just Cruising on American Highways?
The core gameplay of American Truck Simulator has always been buying trucks, upgrading vehicles, and hauling cargo across American states. But this new DLC seems to accidentally prove that players might also enjoy simply driving and watching the scenery. Imagine: normally you work hard hauling cargo on long hauls, but this time you can just hop into a Mustang and cruise along Route 66 without touching a truck at all. As a result, Steam’s concurrent player count even hit a new record of 21,318. SCS Software has accidentally turned “truck simulation” into something like “American road trip simulation.”