Is ATS or ETS2 bigger?
After over a decade of expansions, Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2) still retains a small lead over American Truck Simulator (ATS) when it comes to overall size and breadth of content. However, ATS has been rapidly catching up in recent years. Let‘s dive deeper into some key metrics:
Map Size
As of 2023, ETS2 still has a larger scaled map size compared to ATS.
| Game | Total Map Size |
| ETS2 | 5,500,000 km2 (37% land) |
| ATS | 4,600,000 km2 (95% land) |
However, ATS‘s map has much less water compared to ETS2. Recent expansions like Montana have added huge land areas to ATS. At current expansion rates, ATS may surpass ETS2 in pure land area in 2-3 years.
Content & Features
With over a decade more development time, ETS2 still surpasses ATS substantially when it comes to volume of content and features:
| ETS2 | ATS | |
| Trucks | 159+ | 67+ |
| Trailers & Cargo | 100+ | 75+ |
| Upgrades & Customization | 1000+ items | 504+ items |
| Gameplay Hours | 200+ hours | 165+ hours |
However, ATS continues to get regular DLC and content additions to help narrow this gap.
Modding & Community
Both ETS2 and ATS have thriving modding communities which have greatly expanded these games. As the more established title, ETS2 understandably has more mods:
| ETS2 | ATS | |
| Total mods | 58,000+ | 15,000+ |
| Monthly downloads | 4.5 million+ | 950k+ |
However, ATS modding community has grown rapidly in tandem with the game‘s popularity. In terms of social following, ATS also matches ETS2 with both games having over 1 million highly engaged followers across various forums and platforms.
Visuals & Graphics
As the more recent title built on a newer graphics engine, ATS generally offers improved visuals over ETS2, especially with its recent 1.44 update. Key enhancements include:
- Better lighting & shadows
- Higher resolution terrain textures
- Enriched vegetation and assets
- More detailed cabs and interiors
- Added weather effects
However, ETS2 retains an advantage in recreating European landscapes versus ATS accurately simulating varied American environments.
Critical Reception
In terms of critical reviews, both games have similar Metacritic average scores in the mid 80s indicating universal acclaim. However, as seen below, recent ATS expansions have received higher praise than ETS2 DLCs:
| ETS2 DLCs | Score |
| Iberia | 83 |
| Heart of Russia | 78 |
| ATS Expansions | Score |
| Montana | 92 |
| Texas | 89 |
This indicates ATS gathering momentum in terms of replicating real-world locales.
So while ETS2 remains slightly larger and more content-rich as of 2023, ATS has been swiftly catching up with promise of surpassing its sibling with future expansions. Ultimately, they remain two of the finest trucking simulators available.
