ETS2 1.59 temporarily disables detours: Why SCS is reworking an annoying feature!

SCS Software is temporarily disabling the so-called detours in the ETS2 1.59 Open Beta. In German, you can best simply call them Umleitungen or sudden road closures. Important: This currently affects the Open Beta, meaning a test version of the upcoming update. It does not automatically mean that the feature is gone forever.

But what were these detours anyway?

Very simple: You drive a delivery in Euro Truck Simulator 2, follow your navigation, and suddenly the road is closed. Then you have to find another route. That could mean: off the motorway, across smaller roads, and later back onto the original route. The idea behind it was clear: Not every drive should play out completely the same. Sometimes something unexpected should happen.

On paper, that sounds good. In real road traffic, there are also construction sites, accidents, or closed roads. That is exactly what SCS wanted to bring into the game with the detours. Your trip should become less predictable, you should think briefly and not just stubbornly follow the navigation.

The problem was: Many players found these detours more frustrating than anything else. Sometimes they did not feel sensible, sometimes they came at inconvenient moments, sometimes they felt more like an artificial blockade. Instead of “Oh, exciting route change,” for some it was more like “Great, now I have to drive around forever again.”

That is why SCS is temporarily removing the feature now. The reason is not that the basic idea is bad. SCS wants to rework, improve, and stabilize the detours. In other words: The system should not simply block roads somehow, but hopefully work more sensibly later.

What is important here is the difference compared to random road events. These remain in the game. This refers to smaller events you can see along the way: construction sites, broken-down vehicles, police checks, accidents, or other small scenes at the roadside. These usually do not block your entire route, but simply make the world feel a bit more alive.

The large detours are something else. They could change your entire route. That is exactly why they were so controversial. Many players like small events at the roadside. A complete closure that forces you into a big detour, on the other hand, is a matter of taste.

From my point of view, SCS’s decision is understandable. If a feature annoys many players more than it enriches the game, it is better to temporarily disable it and rework it properly. A good detour can make a trip more interesting. But a bad detour simply feels like a waste of time.

For ETS2 1.59, this means: The large detours are out for now, the small random road events remain in. So you will still see construction sites, accidents, or other events on the road, but these hard forced detours are not supposed to occur for the time being.

Whether the detours return later in an improved form remains to be seen. The idea behind them is still strong if it is implemented well. A sensible road closure can make a tour more realistic. But it has to be fair, feel logical, and must not simply slow down the fun.

In summary, with ETS2 1.59, SCS is temporarily removing a controversial feature from the game. For some, that is a shame because they liked exactly these unexpected situations. For others, it will probably be a relief because they prefer to drive their tours without sudden major detours.

How do you see it: Did the detours in ETS2 bother you more – or did you actually like these unexpected closures? Should detours return later in improved form? Have you ever had a really annoying detour?