Euro Truck Simulator 2 News

Over the past few months, we have started teasing the next next map expansion for Euro Truck Simulator 2, the next major map DLC that will come after Iberia. You may remember seeing a few screenshots in the ETS2 8th-anniversary blogpost, or you may have spotted something in our Christmas Special stream. The community has been abuzz with speculation on what we are going to ultimately reveal. As it turns out, most of your tips were actually spot-on. We are excited to reveal today that you can look forward to driving in the Heart of Russia.

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After focusing on the southwest of Europe, our eyes are set in the very opposite direction. Our roads will continue to expand into the world's largest country by area, Russia. Home to a rich cultural heritage and history, drivers will be able to deliver to the very heart of Russia - Moscow, and beyond.



To manage expectations, it's important to explain our ambition for the project. Russia is so vast that we cannot expect to include the whole country, we do not even dare to cover the whole of the European part in one project. Our current goal is to reach the upper Volga river, but if you know Russian geography, perhaps think of the Oka river rather than the lower parts of Volga or Don. The size of the territory we plan to cover is huge anyway, comparable to the previous, as of now still upcoming Iberia map expansion.



Over the past few years, you may have gotten accustomed to a certain rhythm of map expansion releases coming towards the end of a year. The pattern has obviously been interrupted now with Iberia taking longer to complete. This affected how we could communicate about our upcoming DLC plans. Typically, starting in January, we would already begin to shower you with various details and work-in-progress pictures from a new map DLC. But with the exception of a few teases, we have kept mostly silent on the Heart of Russia project so far, as we did not want to confuse the community by promoting two upcoming expansions with very different release time frames. Now, with Iberia in the final stretch and a release period already indicated, we think it's time finally to give Heart of Russia a chance to be seen. The project (and the team) deserve to finally come into its own spotlight; the motivation is certainly higher when the team can hear the voice of our fan community's support.





It should be emphasized that we are still very early in development for this project. We cannot commit to a release date at all yet. Even internally, there are many questions on how fast we can progress from where we are now. The core of the Heart of Russia team has been in place since mid-2020. In fact, the project lead, the research team, and the art asset team have all started their work even earlier. The preparatory ramp-up phase for a new ETS2 map DLC usually starts about a year ahead of full production. However, as of now, the team still hasn't been bulked up to the final size, as a dozen or so people who were supposed to migrate over from the Iberia project are still finishing their commitments there. So it's fair to admit that we have not yet achieved the full productivity we have expected to reach at this stage. On the plus side, several new team members hail from Russia, so there is a good chance that we'll avoid losing time iterating on any authenticity errors, as it sometimes happens when we build places we have limited hands-on experience in the team. How much is this all going to affect the usual release pattern? It's still too early to tell. We are making excellent progress on some areas of the project, so we may remain hopeful, but please set your expectations accordingly. You already know us well - we release a new map expansion only when we feel that it's really done, not earlier!





With that said, we look forward to sharing more information and updates on this exciting addition to the Euro Truck Simulator 2 world. Looking forward to exploring the Heart of Russia already? Be sure to add it to your Steam Wishlist! It really aids us with the development and release of our content and we thank you for your ongoing support!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1536500/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2__Heart_of_Russia/

When traveling across the many roads and highways in our upcoming Iberia DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2, you'll be sure to see a large variety of road signs in different languages spoken across both Spain and Portugal.





The most common road signs you will see will be written in Spanish and Portuguese, which are the 2 most spoken languages across the Peninsula. From informational tollgate signage to speed restriction warnings, our teams have created new and unique designs local to different areas of Iberia.





However, Spanish and Portuguese aren't the only languages spoken in Iberia. Drivers making deliveries in our upcoming DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 can also expect to see signage assets written in Basque (spoken around Northern Spain) and Catalan (spoken in the North-eastern parts of Spain). Many of these informational signs that are written in the local languages are often accompanied by a second sign in Spanish, for those who may be traveling from outside the region.





So make sure to keep an eye out for these unique signs around Iberia, which will relay important information to you, the driver!



We know that most of you are on the lookout for a sign of when this upcoming map expansion will be released and today we are happy to share some news with you. Our teams are now polishing and optimizing the map full-time, and finishing the DLC as a whole. The best estimate is that the Iberia DLC may be ready for release in April.



We are not yet ready to set an exact date for you to look forward to, but we wanted to let you know that the finish line is already in-sight!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1209460/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2__Iberia/

While our teams dedicated to the Iberia DLC project are still tirelessly working, polishing, and putting some final touches in, we also wanted to inform you that something special is getting ready to be released with this map expansion as well. And by "special", we really mean special.



Hints and jokes aside, we are talking about content for the Special Transport DLC here. With each new map DLC, we always work hard to bring new routes and missions for the new map as part of a free update to the Special Transport expansion. Today we are happy to announce that Iberia's release will be no different!


Coming with the long-anticipated and largest map expansion we've ever created so far, there will also be some additional content for those who like to haul huge and oversized cargoes. Five new routes for Special Transport missions will be available on the Iberian peninsula, featuring:

Lisbon to Ponte de Sor
Gijón to Navia
Olhão to Setúbal
Madrid to Puertollano
Huelva to Seville

Do not panic, but be ready as each of these new routes & missions will bring new challenges that will put your driving skills to the test. We suggest getting some practice, setting your seat position, mirrors, and choosing the right drivetrain before departing with any of these massive cargoes attached to your mighty truck. You should also follow the escort vehicles and their instructions, as they will be there to make sure the job goes smoothly.



Can you tell that the Iberia hype is becoming OVERSIZED? Better buckle up because we plan to bring more news about this upcoming map DLC soon! Meanwhile, please consider supporting its release by adding it to your Steam Wishlist, if you haven't done that already.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1209460/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2__Iberia/

Want to see more from Iberia? Then check out this short gameplay video below, too. It was recorded by Michal, also known as MTCougar, our QA Department Lead, as a fun experiment intended for internal use. Using TrackIR, it realistically emulates a driver's perspective. We found the video so cool that we thought it is worth sharing it with you. Please keep in mind that everything shown here is still in a 'work in progress' stage and as we are still tweaking the lighting and fixing map bugs, the final look may be slightly different.

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Back in September of last year, two members of our team, Matej & Irenej, travelled to Spain & Portugal to record new sounds for the upcoming Iberia DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2. Today, we are excited to showcase how these new sounds have been implemented into our sim by them and Filipkooo, who is another one of our colleagues.

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Our sound experts travelled across the Iberian Peninsula to capture realistic sounds from industrial and scenic environments alike. Some of the stops along their journey included capturing sounds from ports, industrial zones, truck stops, and a variety of different environments such as coastlines and city streets. We hope you like what you hear!

Want to see and hear more of our upcoming Iberia DLC? Then mark tomorrow (18th February 2021) down in your calendar and join our exclusive Iberia gameplay live stream on Twitch, Steam, or Youtube. Starting from 18:00 CET with your favourite duo Alex and Nemiro, you won't want to miss out!



Also, please do not forget to add the upcoming Iberia DLC into your Steam Wishlist, if you haven't done so already. It means a lot to us and really helps with the continued development and releases for our trucking titles. Thank you!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1209460/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2__Iberia/