American Truck Simulator will be filling out more of its US map next year when it adds the state of Idaho as its next major DLC expansion. Developer SCS Software announced the DLC during a livestream this week that kicked off its Christmas Giving Event, which is live now.
If you’re unfamiliar with American geography, Idaho is immediately east of Washington, stretching from the Canadian border on its north to Nevada and Utah to the south. It also borders Oregon and Wyoming. It’s a mountainous state that includes some of the Rocky Mountains, and about 38% of the state’s land is held by the United States Forest Service.
For American Truck Simulator, Idaho will be a key territory: There’s no clear route from the recently released Utah area up to Washington. Without Idaho, truckers in Utah or New Mexico have to tack west through Nevada and up through Oregon to get to locations in Washington, and Idaho presents a much more direct path. You’ll be able to head through Idaho’s more populous southern region, the Snake River Basin, and up into the narrow and more remote panhandle on your way to eastern Washington with the new DLC, and there’s plenty to see along the way.
SCS hasn’t revealed many specific details about the Idaho DLC yet, but the screenshots show trucks engaged in forestry and logging, conventional agriculture, and waste management. Most of the shots on the Steam page show off Idaho’s rugged character, and having grown up in nearby Eastern Washington, I can attest to how closely they adhere to the character of the region.
While you wait for Idaho, you can participate in the Christmas Grand Giving Event 2019 in both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, which is going on now through January 15. The idea here is to take Christmas Gifts trailers from a city of your choice and make a holiday delivery, and as the community delivers more gifts from each city, the cities will earn stars. Community-wide prizes will be awarded each time a city earns 200 stars, and there’s a special one for when your city hits 1,000.
Individual players will be able to earn prizes in the form of cabin accessories and festive truck skins when they’ve completed 12 deliveries of gifts. Again, the event is live in both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, so pick your favourite city and hit the road.