Is Euro Truck Simulator 2 Worth It? What Players Say

Screenshot: Steam store page (SCS Software)

Is Euro Truck Simulator 2 worth it? The numbers at a glance

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What $19.99 gets you

The pitch is on the store page: "Transport a vast variety of cargo across more than 60 European cities." You also "run your own business which continues to grow", with garages, a fleet and hired drivers. It is a driving game first and a management game second, and the management layer is gentle. As one r/EuroTruck2 player put it, "You earn money to buy garages to buy trucks to employ drivers to earn money," wrote u/SuAlfons in May.

Steam also lists online co-op through SCS's Convoy mode, Workshop support and trading cards. The studio's own site says the game has an active modding scene, from cosmetic mods to new trucks and map extensions.

Screenshot: Steam store page (SCS Software)

It is also a game that keeps moving. SCS's Steam announcements show the 1.61 update on September 17 and 1.62 on November 5, with new DAF XG+ editions, new garages and an improved Iveco S-Way interior. SCS is also reworking the base map: its 1.62 garages post calls Benelux the latest rework and says the United Kingdom is underway, with an Edinburgh preview in October. If you want a similar long-haul fantasy with a story attached, our Truckful release date page covers the delivery adventure that launched in October.

Do you need a steering wheel?

Players say you do not, and this is the question searchers keep asking. Valve's compatibility report marks the game Steam Deck Verified, with the default controller layout "fully functional". Players agree. u/Lussarc wrote in May: "I play with a controller. 600 hours in. Will not stop. Definitely worth it". u/Naxos84 bought a wheel later but still said "The game is very much playable with a controller (though it needs quite a lot of buttons)."

Keyboard and mouse work as well. u/Daniel_TDiPower steers with the mouse and uses the keyboard for throttle and brake with smart throttle enabled. The cost advice from the same thread is to start cheap: play the base game on a gamepad first, then decide whether a second-hand wheel is worth it.

Screenshot: Steam store page (SCS Software)

Which Euro Truck Simulator 2 DLC do players buy first?

The base game already has more than 60 European cities, and the Reddit advice we read is split on how soon to add DLC. u/syxbsy wrote in February, "I would just buy some DLCs and when you are bored of them / have all achievements I would buy the next one." u/rjml29 took the other side the same day and called Ultimate on sale "a very good deal" for long-term players.

When you do want a map, here is what Steam showed on November 10 (US store, English reviews):

Italia has the best Steam score of the paid maps (93%) on 1,960 reviews. Greece is $6 cheaper than the standard $17.99 map price and sits at 89%. A reader on r/EuroTruck2 went further: "If you don't want Iberia or are not French then i would recommend Greece/Nordic Horizons over France," wrote u/PLPolandPL15719 on May 17. Iberia has the lowest score of the maps (76%). Our reading: review scores measure how happy buyers were, not how big a map is, so they work best as a tiebreaker.

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The cheap add-ons matter less. Cargo packs sit at $4.99: High Power Cargo Pack has 90% of 1,774 reviews, Heavy Cargo Pack 89% of 479, and Special Transport is the weakest at 74% of 885. The $3.99 Cabin Accessories pack has 91% of 537. u/Piter061 summed up a September thread this way: "Tuning pack for your favourite truck brand + all map expansions and one tire pack is enough. You don't need paint jobs and when it comes to cargo it depends on preference."

Screenshot: Steam store page (SCS Software)

Is the Ultimate Edition worth it? What the bundle math shows

Whether it pays off depends on how many maps you will own. Steam's bundle page on November 10 listed the Ultimate Edition (35 items) at $115.65 from scratch, a 50% bundle discount on $231.65 of individual prices, and Premium (12 items) at $50.28 and Deluxe (18 items) at $91.12. The base game plus the nine older maps (everything above except Nordic Horizons) adds up to $167.90 bought one by one, so Ultimate is cheaper than the maps alone and throws in cargo packs, cabin accessories and paint jobs.

u/rjml29 made the same argument in February: "The ultimate edition while on sale (which it currently is) is a very good deal so if you know you will want to play the game long term then get that." The catch is the same one the bundle page warns about: if you already own some items, the price drops, and if you only want one map, a bundle is the wrong shape. Our Steam sale calendar tracks the next storewide discounts.

What about Iceland and Coaches this week?

SCS dated both expansions in its Steam announcements: Iceland for November 10 and Coaches, with the Scania Touring, Volvo 9700 DD and MAN Lion's Coach, for November 12. The Coaches post also mentions tourist jobs.

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Players' steer in February was the same as in the thread above: u/MaraPlayz wrote "Don't buy everything and wait for discounts."

Can your PC run it?

Easily, by modern standards. Steam lists a minimum of Windows 10 64-bit, an i5-6400 or Ryzen 3 1200, 8 GB of RAM, a GTX 660 or RX 460 with 2 GB of VRAM and 25 GB of space. Recommended is an i5-9600 or Ryzen 5 3600, 12 GB of RAM and a GTX 1660 or RX 590. Mac and Linux builds are listed too, and the game is Steam Deck Verified. If you are choosing between a Deck and a desktop for sims like this, our Moonlighter 2 Steam Deck notes show how Valve's ratings are checked in practice.

Screenshot: Steam store page (SCS Software)

What price fits? Reading the numbers

Steam asks $19.99 today with no discount. Eneba lists a Global Steam key at about $10.03 as of November 10, roughly half. Valve's next storewide event is the Winter Sale starting December 17 per our sale calendar. A February reply from u/RoundTheBend6 claimed "Only the base game goes to 90%" on Steam, but we could not verify that sale history ourselves, so treat it as an anecdote.

Our reading of the numbers: $19.99 is the base-game price behind the Steam score above, and about $10 is the Eneba Global key price on November 10. For DLC, the Reddit advice we read is split, so $17.99 for a standard map and $115.65 for Ultimate are the two figures to weigh against how many maps you want. The bundles recalculate for items you own, so the Ultimate figure drops if you already have some.

What players say about who it suits

• Players describe a long-drive, low-pressure loop: cargo, road and company growth.
• It keeps updating; SCS shipped 1.62 on November 5.
• A gamepad is enough to start, per the Reddit threads above.
• Our reading: the store description and the Reddit quotes describe a quiet game rather than an action or story game.

Where we stop

We have not played Euro Truck Simulator 2 for this piece, so we make no call on whether it is worth buying. What we can report is a 14-year history, a very high Steam score and a patch from this month. The numbers above are the ones to weigh against your own budget.

What we don't know

We have not played it for this piece, so map quality is read from Steam scores and a handful of Reddit threads, which skew to long-term fans. Steam's English-only review figures are on the store page, and we couldn't pull the all-language total. The Eneba price can change daily.

How we checked this

On November 10, 2026 we read the Steam store pages and API data for the base game and its map and cargo DLC (price, dates, specs, review summaries), the Steam bundle pages for Premium, Deluxe and Ultimate, Valve's Steam Deck compatibility report and the current player count. We read SCS Software's Steam announcements for 1.61, 1.62, Iceland and Coaches, the studio's website and blog, the Metacritic page, and Eneba's listing. Player quotes come from r/EuroTruck2 threads we opened one by one: May 15 to 19 (controller), February 24 (buying DLC in 2026) and September 27 (Ultimate Edition).

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References

• Euro Truck Simulator 2 on Steam: SCS Software
• Euro Truck Simulator 2: Ultimate Edition: Steam bundle page
• 1.62 Update Release: SCS Software, Steam news
• Iceland Release Date and Video Trailer Reveal: SCS Software, Steam news
• Coaches Release Date and Video Trailer Reveal: SCS Software, Steam news
• Euro Truck Simulator 2 official site: SCS Software
• SCS Software's blog
• Euro Truck Simulator 2 on Metacritic
• r/EuroTruck2: Is ETS2 worth it without a steering wheel?
• r/EuroTruck2: Planning to buy the game and all DLCs in 2026
• r/EuroTruck2: Is the Ultimate Edition worth it?