Do simulations really need so many DLCs—or could they not survive without them?

The Euro Truck Simulator 2 shows particularly impressively how large such catalogs can become. Its current Steam DLC page lists 103 results . These include major map expansions, cargo packs, tuning content, liveries and, again and again, free vehicles. The game itself was released back in 2012 and is still being expanded with new regions and content to this day.

Even more extreme is Train Sim World 7. Even before its actual release, Steam lists 159 add-ons under “Content for this game.” These include routes costing around 40 to 45 dollars, individual locomotives, vehicle packs and smaller gameplay expansions. Much of this comes from the Train Sim World ecosystem that has grown over the years and therefore remains relevant for the new generation as well.

This can initially seem quite overwhelming to a new player. Anyone who opens a Steam page and discovers a three-digit number of additional content items underneath might quickly think they first have to invest hundreds or even thousands of euros to own the “complete” game.

However, this is precisely where there is an important difference from many classic games: In simulations, it is often not intended for every player to own every DLC.

An ETS2 player may be interested exclusively in new maps and completely ignore liveries. A Train Sim World player may only drive German routes and need neither American nor British content. In Farming Simulator, someone may buy only machines from their favorite manufacturers. And in City Transport Simulator, one player may prefer trams while another drives only buses.

DLCs increasingly turn a single game into a kind of modular system. The base game provides the technical platform, and players then put together exactly the content they are actually interested in.

For developers, this model has one decisive advantage: A game does not inevitably have to be replaced by a completely new sequel after two or three years. New content can be sold while the existing platform is developed further at the same time. Especially for simulations, whose community is often smaller and more specialized than that of major mainstream games, this continuous revenue can be particularly important.

Because development does not end after release. New vehicles have to be modeled, sounds recorded, features programmed, real routes researched, maps built and, in some cases, brand or vehicle licenses taken into account. This work continues to incur costs even though many players bought the base game years ago.

If a developer subsequently released all these expansions for free, the money for them would have to come from another source in the long term. Possible options would include higher prices for the base game, more frequent new full versions, subscriptions or other forms of monetization.

The fact that mixed forms also exist is shown, for example, by Farming Simulator 25. There, paid expansions and machine packs exist alongside free additional content. The Beans & Alpacas Expansion, for example, currently costs 26.99 euros, while other packs are offered for free. In addition, there is a Year 2 Season Pass bundling several upcoming pieces of content.

The City Transport Simulator 2026 also increasingly relies on this approach. The current Season Pass costs 64.99 euros and includes several vehicles as well as the new Vienna map. Individual items can also be purchased separately: The Citybus C2 costs 19.99 euros, for example, while other vehicle DLCs cost 8.99, 17.99 or 24.99 euros.

However, this creates a real problem for players: The longer a simulator lives, the more confusing its offering can become.

Which DLC do I need for which route? Does vehicle A also work on map B? Is an older pack still worthwhile? Is something already included in an edition or Season Pass? And why does a supposedly small vehicle cost almost as much as some complete game on sale?

It becomes especially difficult when additional content no longer feels like optional expansions, but players get the impression that essential components were deliberately removed from the base game. That is exactly where perception often shifts from “my game is receiving new content for years” to “I have to pay again for everything”.

The difference is crucial.

A DLC model can keep a game alive for many years, fund development teams and make it possible to provide new content continuously. At the same time, it must not cause newcomers to lose track or make the base game feel incomplete without numerous additional purchases.

Perhaps the number of DLCs is not actually the real problem. 103 expansions for ETS2 do not automatically have to be worse than ten, as long as most of them are clearly optional, described understandably and the base game also works sensibly on its own.

In simulations, the large number of DLCs could even be a by-product of their success: The longer a game is supported, the larger its catalog inevitably becomes.

And that is precisely where the somewhat paradoxical problem lies. Players often want their favorite simulator to be maintained and expanded for many years. At the same time, this very long-term support eventually creates those huge DLC lists that many subsequently complain about.

What do you think? Have the many DLCs in ETS2, Train Sim World, Farming Simulator and other simulations become too much for you—or do you actually like that they allow these games to keep growing for years? And would you prefer this model to having to buy a completely new game every two or three years?