Expert Edition or Upgrade Pack: When does the larger CTS 2026 package actually become worthwhile?

With City Transport Simulator 2026, we first need to distinguish between two groups. New players who do not yet own the base game can choose between the Starter Edition and the larger Expert Edition. Anyone who already owns City Transport Simulator or can upgrade to CTS 2026 for free from a previous version only needs the Expert Upgrade Pack.

In terms of content, the upgrade adds the same additional items that form the difference between the Starter and Expert Editions.

What is already included in the Starter Edition?

The Starter Edition normally costs €39.99. Our discount code SIMULATORENNEWS reduces the price by five percent to approximately €37.99.

It includes the complete Tramau map and three trams:

• ULF A1
• ULF B1
• R2.2b

The buses included as standard are the MAN Lion’s City A21 with two and three doors, the A23 articulated bus with three and four doors, as well as the NL 205 and NG 235.

The Starter Edition therefore provides everything required to play CTS 2026 fully. The Expert Edition does not replace these contents, but adds more vehicles, routes, and customisation options.

What does the Expert Edition add?

The Expert Edition contains the complete Starter Edition and five additional expansions:

• MAN New Lion’s City
• Flexity Vienna
• CityRegion Tram
• Tram and bus depot with Southern Route
• Basel Style Cosmetic DLC

The MAN New Lion’s City package expands the fleet with several solo and articulated bus variants. The Flexity Vienna and CityRegion Tram add two further trams.

The map DLC expands Tramau with an operational depot, additional stops, and the Southern Route. The Basel package adds matching stop elements and green vehicle liveries.

How much do these contents cost individually?

Including our five-percent discount, the prices are as follows:

• MAN New Lion’s City: €19.99 normally, approximately €18.99 with the code
• Flexity Vienna: €17.99 normally, approximately €17.09 with the code
• CityRegion Tram: €17.99 normally, approximately €17.09 with the code
• Tram and bus depot with Southern Route: €19.99 normally, approximately €18.99 with the code
• Basel Style Cosmetic DLC: €0.99 normally, approximately €0.94 with the code

All five expansions cost €76.95 when purchased individually. When the code SIMULATORENNEWS is used for the individual purchases, the total is reduced to approximately €73.10.

The Expert Upgrade Pack for existing players

The Expert Upgrade Pack normally costs €29.99. With our five-percent discount, you pay only approximately €28.49.

This produces the following comparison:

• All five expansions individually with the discount: €73.10
• Expert Upgrade Pack with the discount: €28.49

Anyone who wants all of the included expansions therefore saves €44.61 with the Upgrade Pack compared with purchasing every item individually with the same discount.

You can find the Upgrade Pack here:

CTS 2026: Expert Upgrade Pack

Upgrade auf die CTS 2026 – Expert Edition und erlebe das komplette Verkehrserlebnis zum vergünstigten Preis!Das Expert Edition Upgrade erweitert deine Flotte…

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Use the following code at checkout:

SIMULATORENNEWS

When does the Expert Upgrade Pack become cheaper?

Anyone who only wants a single expansion will pay less by purchasing it individually. Even the most expensive included DLC costs only €18.99 after our discount and therefore remains well below the €28.49 price of the Upgrade Pack.

One major DLC together with the Basel Style package also remains cheaper when purchased individually. The MAN New Lion’s City package and Basel, for example, cost approximately €19.93 together.

However, the calculation changes with only two of the four major expansions.

Even the cheapest combination of Flexity Vienna and CityRegion Tram costs €34.18 after the discount. The Upgrade Pack costs €28.49, which is already €5.69 less, while also including the MAN New Lion’s City, Southern Route, and Basel Style package.

Existing CTS players therefore have a very simple dividing line:

If you only want one major expansion, purchasing it individually is cheaper. If you want at least two of the four major expansions, the Expert Upgrade Pack is already cheaper.

Anyone who already owns some of these DLCs should carefully check what is still missing from their collection. If only one major DLC and the Basel package remain, buying them individually is cheaper. If at least two of the major expansions are still missing, the Upgrade Pack remains worthwhile.

The Expert Edition for new players

The complete Expert Edition normally costs €59.99. Our discount code reduces the price to approximately €56.99.

The Starter Edition costs €37.99 with the discount. A new player therefore pays only €19 more to move from Starter to Expert.

This is important because individual expansions already come very close to that additional price:

• Starter Edition plus Flexity Vienna: €55.08
• Starter Edition plus CityRegion Tram: €55.08
• Starter Edition plus MAN New Lion’s City: €56.98
• Starter Edition plus Southern Route: €56.98
• Complete Expert Edition: €56.99

Anyone who only wants one of the two trams still pays €1.91 less with the Starter Edition and the individual DLC. With one of the €19.99 DLCs, the individual purchase is mathematically only one cent cheaper than the complete Expert Edition.

In practical terms, this means that new players who want the MAN New Lion’s City or Southern Route will pay almost exactly the same amount for the Expert Edition as they would for the Starter Edition and that single DLC. For one additional cent, however, they also receive both trams, the other major DLC, and the Basel Style package.

With two major additional contents, the Expert Edition becomes clearly cheaper even on a purely mathematical basis.

The cheapest corresponding combination would be the Starter Edition together with Flexity Vienna and CityRegion Tram. With the discount, this would cost €72.17. The Expert Edition costs €56.99 and already saves €15.18.

How much would the complete package cost individually?

If a new player first purchases the Starter Edition and then buys all five Expert expansions individually, the following total is produced:

• Starter Edition: €39.99
• All Expert expansions: €76.95
• Total price without the discount: €116.94

With our five-percent discount, these individual purchases would still cost approximately €111.09 in total.

The Expert Edition costs only €56.99 with the same discount. Compared with purchasing everything individually at the discounted prices, this saves a total of €54.10.

Even purchasing the Starter Edition and Expert Upgrade Pack separately is more expensive:

• Starter Edition with the discount: €37.99
• Expert Upgrade Pack with the discount: €28.49
• Combined: €66.48
• Expert Edition with the discount: €56.99

New players therefore save another €9.49 by purchasing the Expert Edition directly instead of buying the Starter Edition and Upgrade Pack separately.

You can find the Expert Edition here:

CTS 2026: Expert Edition

Steig ein in die nächste Generation des städtischen Nahverkehrs mit City Transport Simulator 2026! Erlebe die bisher immersivste Bus- und…

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The same checkout code applies:

SIMULATORENNEWS

Which version is suitable for whom?

New players who only want the basic CTS 2026 contents will spend the least with the Starter Edition.

New players who want at least two of the major additional DLCs should choose the Expert Edition immediately. With the MAN New Lion’s City or Southern Route, the complete package costs practically the same as the Starter Edition and a single DLC.

Owners of an existing CTS version do not need to purchase the complete Expert Edition again. The Expert Upgrade Pack is intended for them. It becomes cheaper as soon as at least two of the four major expansions are missing and genuinely wanted.

Anyone who is only missing a single DLC can find all expansions in the complete official CTS shop. The code SIMULATORENNEWS also provides a five-percent discount there:

The calculation is therefore surprisingly clear: Individual purchases remain sensible for individual requirements. However, as soon as two larger Expert contents are on your list, both the Upgrade Pack and complete Expert Edition become considerably cheaper.

Which of the included expansions are still missing from your collection—and have you already crossed the threshold for the Expert package? Which Expert Edition contents are still missing from your collection? Which two additional contents would be decisive for you? Do you prefer buying DLCs individually or as part of a larger package?