ETS2 FAQ 2026: DLCs, Mods, Multiplayer, VR, and Everything Else

I see the same questions pop up in every ETS2 forum, subreddit, and Steam discussion. Here are the answers I'd give a friend who just bought the game — no fluff, just what you actually need to know.

Which DLCs Should I Buy First?

The base game includes about 70 cities across 12 countries (UK, Benelux, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and parts of Eastern Europe). That's easily 50-80 hours of content before you'd run out of new roads.

When you're ready for more, buy in this order:

Scandinavia first. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark add beautiful roads, introduce double trailers, and have consistently high-paying cargo. The mountain routes between Oslo and Bergen alone are worth the price.

Vive la France second. It significantly expands France beyond the base game version, with detailed countryside, toll roads, and nuclear plant delivery points that feel genuinely unique.

Italia third. Mediterranean coastal highways, the Alps crossings, Sardinia and Sicily — some of the prettiest driving in the entire game.

After that, Iberia (Spain and Portugal), Road to the Black Sea (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey), West Balkans (newest, 2024 release), and Beyond the Baltic Sea in whatever order interests you.

Steam sales drop map DLCs to 50-75% off about four times a year. Never pay full price unless you're desperate.

What About Mods?

ETS2 has official Steam Workshop support, so modding is straightforward. The most impactful mods, from someone who's tried dozens:

ProMods is the big one. It's a community map expansion that dramatically improves the base game's detail and accuracy — better road layouts, more realistic city designs, additional towns that SCS never got to. It requires all map DLCs, so it's a late-game addition.

Realistic Graphics Mod overhauls lighting, weather, and textures. The default game looks fine but this mod makes sunrise and fog feel genuinely atmospheric.

Sound Fixes Pack replaces engine sounds, traffic audio, and ambient effects with higher-quality versions. The base game's truck sounds are... okay. This mod makes a Scania V8 actually rumble like a Scania V8.

A word of warning: map mods can corrupt saves if you remove them mid-profile. Keep a clean profile without mods for your main progress, and a separate modded profile for experimentation.

TruckersMP and Multiplayer

TruckersMP is a third-party mod that puts thousands of players on the same server. The Simulation 1 server regularly hits 3,000-5,000 concurrent players during European evening hours. There's also the official Convoy mode (built into the game since 2021) supporting up to 8 players.

The Simulation servers have speed limits and collision enabled. The Arcade server disables collisions so you can't crash into people. Start on Arcade.

The Calais-Duisburg road is legendary in the community — it's the most congested stretch of road in multiplayer, often with 100+ players bunched up on a single highway. It's complete chaos and either you find it hilarious or you avoid it entirely. I'm in the second camp.

Controller or Wheel?

Keyboard steering is binary — you're either turning fully or not at all. It works, people play hundreds of hours with keyboards, but it's not great.

A controller (Xbox or PlayStation, $30-60) gives you analog steering and trigger-based throttle/brake. The difference is immediate — smooth turns instead of jerky micro-corrections.

A budget force-feedback wheel like the Logitech G29 (around $200-300) transforms the game entirely. You feel the road surface through the wheel, resistance changes when you're hauling heavy loads, and parking suddenly makes sense because you can make fine adjustments.

Direct drive wheels ($500+) are amazing but honestly overkill unless you're also into hardcore racing sims.

VR Support

ETS2 has native OpenVR support via a beta branch on Steam. It's not polished — the UI wasn't built for VR and some menus are awkward — but looking around your cabin naturally while driving, checking your mirrors by actually turning your head, that's something else entirely. Performance is decent on mid-range hardware if you drop the graphics scaling.

How Realistic Is It?

ETS2 lands in what the community calls "simcade" territory. More realistic than arcade games, less punishing than hardcore sims. Tire physics are simplified, damage is forgiving, and you never need to physically inspect your truck. The learning curve is gentle — anyone can pick it up and complete a delivery within 30 minutes.

What it does capture perfectly is the vibe. The rhythm of highway driving, the satisfaction of a clean delivery, the oddly compelling loop of earn money, buy garage, hire drivers, repeat. People call it the most relaxing game on Steam and they're not wrong.

How Long Does It Take?

There's no completion state. Players with 5,000+ hours still actively play. Rough milestones: first owned truck at 2-3 hours, first garage at 8-10 hours, five garages and a driver fleet at 30-40 hours, base map fully discovered at 100-150 hours, all achievements at 300-500 hours.

Console Release?

SCS confirmed PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are coming, currently targeted for 2026. No exact date yet — SCS is a Czech studio of about 300 people and they prioritize the PC version. The console ports have been in development for a while, so hopefully this is the year.