Today, developer SCS Software announced that the long-awaited Oklahoma DLC for American Truck Simulator will launch on August 1 - just two days before the PC launch of Baldur's Gate 3 on August 3. Yes, I am probably the only person on Earth affected by this announcement, but what am I supposed to do?
See, I thought I dodged a bullet when the PC launch of Baldur's Gate 3 was brought forward a month, niftily giving RPG fans a lengthy span of time with the game before Starfield shows up to dominate our hearts and minds. I thought my gaming schedule was clear - I just needed to wrap up Zelda and Pikmin 4, check out a couple of indies, and then my plate would be clear for the RPG-fest of the next few months.
But Lord help me, I'm an midwestern Truck Sim fan who's been waiting years for ATS to hit the states I'm actually familiar with. See, American Truck Simulator launched back in 2016 with just a few states: California, Nevada, and Arizona. The game's slowly been adding the rest of the US, west-to-east, in regular DLC packs, and now - seven years later - the devs are finally starting to reach the types of farmland and gentle hills I've been waiting forever to see properly recreated in a video game.
- 3,348 days later, American Truck Simulator is finally delivering the DLC I've been waiting for longer than Hollow Knight fans have been anticipating Silksong
- After 9 years and nearly $200 worth of state DLC packs, American Truck Simulator is finally "reaching the end" of the most famous road in the US
Then we've got Baldur's Gate 3, an extensive RPG that probably needs far less introduction here - the kind of mesmerizing, choice-driven narrative that only coalesces into a major game once in a great, great while. This is like my own personal Barbenheimer, except these are both things that are going to take me dozens of hours to get through.
The list of new games for 2023 is already comically massive, and arguably the best part of gaming in the modern age is that you can find all kinds of little niches to enjoy on top of the big AAA blockbusters. Godspeed to each and every one of you who, like me, are trying to balance your extremely dedicated tiny interests with the proper gaming zeitgeist.
I'm fairly confident American Truck Simulator won't let you have sex with a bear.
