Euro Truck Simulator 2: gamifying the life of a trucker

Truck drivers are independent – facing challenges, discovering new locations, and are considered everyday heroes. People worldwide are living out their truck driver dreams with Euro Truck Simulator 2, and popular brands are getting involved too.

Hardcore fans of real brands

If you don't know about 'Euro Truck Simulator 2', it's a popular video game where players drive their own semi-truck. They start out as a newly-hired driver, tasked with delivering cargo. As the player advances in the game, they drive through famous cities and picturesque stretches of road, haul bigger and bigger loads, move up the ranks and can eventually start their own company and manage their own truck fleet. Throughout the game, they’re able to customize their vehicles.

“When we first launched the Euro Truck Simulator 2, we had to create a lot of content, really quickly,” remembers Pavel Sebor, CEO of SCS Software(1). As a result, early versions of the game were much less detailed than the life-like version now on the market. Today, hardcore fans have upped their expectations. “The more realistic we make it, the better our players feel,” he indicates. “They don’t want to drive a truck with an invented brand name or an invented tire name. They want to play with the brands they know and love.”

Which is why brands, like Michelin, have taken center stage in this success story. Michelin began collaborating with the company more than seven years ago to allow for Michelin brand content to be included in the game. The goal was to have brands and products familiar to drivers to help authenticate the experience for players.