Today, we are happy to share that the 1.56 Open Beta branch for American Truck Simulator is now available to try and test out. If you plan on participating in this Open Beta, we would truly appreciate it if you could help us by reporting any bugs you may encounter in the appropriate section(s) of our official forums. Your feedback and reports really aid our team, and we would like to thank you in advance for taking the time to help us out.

Alongside this, we'd also like to mention that our teams are currently adapting to a new internal update cycle. Because future console releases will require us to lock in content earlier, this adjustment helps us better coordinate timing across every platform. It's a step toward greater consistency, and we're confident it will keep things running like clockwork.

It's also worth noting that while today's blog highlights some of the most visible changes and new content, there is always a lot happening behind the scenes. From preparing for consoles to laying the groundwork for upcoming projects such as the Coaches expansion for ETS2 or the Road Trip project for ATS, our teams are working hard to build the future of our games.

Now, without further ado, let's take a look at what the 1.56 Open Beta has in store.

Height Blend

Height blend effect is a technique used to create more realistic and visually appealing transitions between different types of terrains or surfaces, like grass, dirt, or stone. It works by utilizing a height map texture, a grayscale image that represents the elevation of a surface, to determine how different textures blend together.

For example, where a grassy hill slopes into a rocky cliff, the height blend effect ensures the textures mix naturally based on the terrain's height and slope, avoiding harsh or unnatural edges. For map designers, it eliminates the need for many decals, which previously had to be added to achieve a believable look, saving time and effort.

Under the hood, our team has converted, tweaked, and visually checked over 1,300 materials from our library to ensure seamless integration.

Dynamic Cargo Improvements

We are expanding the dynamic loading and unloading feature to cover more cargo types. Truckers using their own logger or chipvan trailers will now see a material handler dynamically managing their loads at selected depots across the USA. The logger's cargoes - large tubes, logs, and utility poles - as well as the chipvan's metal scrap, are now included in this feature to make your trucking experience more immersive.

Camera Zoom - Hold/Toggle

The 1.56 update also brings a small but welcome accessibility feature. Players can now choose whether the interior zoom function requires holding the key (the default) or can be switched to a toggle mode. This option not only adds convenience but also improves accessibility, offering a more comfortable way for all players to take a closer look at the details inside their cab, in the mirrors, and around their truck. Players can find this feature in "Options → Gameplay and Options → Accessibility".

DLC Browser

With the 1.56 update, we are also introducing a brand-new design for the DLC Browser. This redesign aims to make browsing and discovering additional content for your game easier and more enjoyable, while also giving you a better overview of what each DLC has to offer.

The updated browser now features improved categorization, with clear sections such as Featured, Bundles, Map, Cargo, Trailer, Accessories, and Paint Jobs. The main layout has also been refreshed, increasing the number of items displayed per row from three to four for a cleaner and more modern look.

The DLC browser is just the beginning of a feature with the potential to grow and evolve further. While it may take time and development to see how far it can go, the vision is to make it possible for players to explore and enjoy all of our DLC without ever leaving the game. Please keep in mind that this feature is still deep in the work-in-progress stage.

New Profile Creation and Start-up Flow

We're giving the profile system in Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator a big refresh, which includes a new UI design and improved navigation. The old table-style list of profiles has been replaced with larger, card-like slots that give a cleaner and more modern look. Your active profile will always appear at the top, with your other careers sorted by most recent playtime. The first slot is reserved for starting a brand-new career, and switching between your profiles is now quicker; simply double-click on a card to jump right in.

Whether you're a new player or a seasoned veteran, the profile creation process has also been redesigned to be simpler and clearer, focusing only on the most important options and selections needed when starting a new career.

A new Truck Preference screen has also been added between selecting your headquarters and the opening cutscene. Here, you can preview all available trucks in a rotating 3D view that spins automatically, or rotate them yourself. You'll be able to cycle through brands, switch between different models, or even press a “random” button to let the game surprise you. We hope this new preference screen gives both new and experienced players a detailed look at each truck and its key specifications.

We've also refreshed the Edit Profile screen, which now focuses only on details that really matter for your career. Many of the older fields have been moved elsewhere, keeping the editing process simple and uncluttered. To make things more convenient, clicking on your profile from the desktop top bar now opens a new Driver Details screen, where you can view all the important info about your career and even change your avatar without having to return to the title screen.

This redesigned approach not only makes profile navigation smoother but also gives the whole experience a cleaner, more modern feel. Whether you're starting your very first trucking journey or managing multiple careers, we hope this update makes your profile management more streamlined and accessible. Please note that this feature is still very much a work in progress.

Management UI/UX Improvements

In the Company tab on the Desktop, the Driver, Trailer, Truck, and Garage Manager screens now feature a redesigned company subscreen. The refreshed company subscreen shows the company name and logo alongside key statistics, a redesigned seven-day profit graph, and highlights of the most profitable assets. It also introduces an economy summary pop-up for quick performance review and a company properties option for editing the name and logo.

We've also added a quality-of-life improvement to the relocation screen: when both a driver and their truck can be placed in the same garage slot, a checkbox allows relocating them together in one step. To improve accessibility, the Garage Manager and Driver Manager are now unlocked from the very start of the game, rather than only after purchasing a truck.

Finally, the Driver Manager subscreen has been polished with a clearer layout, including a new XP bar that lets players track their NPC drivers' progress, and a simplified job information and skills overview, where you can assign a collective preferred training policy for newly hired drivers. Please remember that this feature is still deep in the work-in-progress stage.

Changelog

Gameplay

• Dynamic Cargo Improvements

• Camera Zoom - Hold/Toggle

Visual

• Height Blend

UI

• New Profile Creation and Start-up Flow

• Management UI/UX Improvements

Other

• DLC Browser

So enjoy all the new additions, but please remember: It's only an open beta, not a stable public version - so you may encounter bugs, instability, or crashes. It's completely okay if you want to wait for the final release. But if you're interested in helping us to get there faster, we'd appreciate all of your feedback on our forum and your bug reports in the dedicated section.

Please check our modding wiki to get details pertaining to mods for the game.

If you wish to participate in this Open Beta, you can find this version in the Experimental Beta branch on Steam. The way to access it is as follows: Steam client → LIBRARY → right-click on American Truck Simulator  → Properties → Betas tab → Beta Participation drop down menu → public_beta. No password is required. Sometimes you will have to restart your Steam client to see the correct branch name there.