SubwaySim 2: Six Minutes, Five Stations, €8.99 – Is That Enough for a DLC?

Judging purely by the route length or travel time, the scope is indeed quite manageable. The U4 is one of Berlin’s shortest underground lines and can therefore be travelled from end to end very quickly. SubwaySim 2 depicts the entire connection in both directions. In addition to the five stations, the expansion includes the corresponding tunnel and track areas as well as reversing facilities.

The regular price is €8.99 on all platforms. Before release, EpicDB had listed €8.09 for the DLC, but €8.99 was ultimately charged. On Steam and the Epic Games Store, a 15 percent launch discount also applies during the first week, temporarily reducing the price to around €7.64. On PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the regular price is €8.99.

However, anyone who considers the scope based only on the five stations is overlooking an important part of the DLC concept. The U4 is not a separate Berlin map. Instead, the new stations, tracks, tunnels and route areas are integrated directly into SubwaySim 2’s existing Berlin game world. DLC owners therefore do not switch between two different Berlin maps, but receive one larger shared map.

This is precisely the principle that is also intended to underpin possible further route expansions. A city is not supposed to consist of several separate maps, but grow as a connected game world. The U4 is the first implementation of this system. The existing Berlin map remains the foundation and is expanded by the section between Innsbrucker Platz and Nollendorfplatz. What further possibilities may arise from this later has deliberately been left open so far. No further Berlin lines have been announced yet.

This is also interesting for players who do not buy the DLC. The U4 will still be at least partially part of their existing Berlin world. At Nollendorfplatz, U4 AI traffic can also be observed without the expansion. The line itself, however, can only be driven with the purchased DLC.

The package also includes four specially created scenarios with different tasks and operating situations. The U4 supports both timetable and career mode and can normally be driven in both directions. Dynamic passengers and AI services are also included.

The route also brings technical innovations. For the U4, new and further-developed signalling systems were implemented, intended to depict signalling technology and operational procedures more closely to the real-world model. Especially on a route that can be travelled from end to end in just a few minutes during a normal journey, these are intended to create additional operational situations alongside the pure travel time.

The price question therefore cannot be answered solely with “five stations for €8.99”. On the one hand, there is a very short underground line in reality, where a complete journey takes only around six minutes. On the other hand, there are five extensively detailed stations, new route and tunnel areas, four scenarios, additional signalling technology and, above all, the direct expansion of an existing game world.

The map concept could become more important in the long term than the U4 itself. If Berlin actually continues to grow within the same game world through future expansions, individual comparatively small DLC routes could gradually develop into larger interconnected networks. Whether and which further Berlin lines will follow is currently still open.

For the U4 itself, this therefore remains a very specific trade-off: A regular €8.99 for five stations and a real end-to-end travel time of approximately six minutes – but not an isolated mini-map, rather an expansion of the existing city including scenarios and new technology.

Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4600590/Su…in_Route_DLC_U4

What do you think: Is €8.99 too much for the U4 given the short route – or does the direct expansion of the existing Berlin map make the decisive difference for you?