why scs software doesn't care about graphics in game?

[Optional Features]

most def there is a market, but IMO it's comparatively smaller. Course the market for ATS/ETS2 viewers is likely largely gobbled up by a few established channels, one of which I don't find all that critically and equitably insightful. I can tell when a reviewer spends time to really get to know a product and isn't just a polished "quasi spokesperson" for a company. I like LGR for that reason.

I don't know enough to tell you what the potential for viewership is, but I'd say it's larger than current.

People love trucks. Trucking channels get tons of views.
as do farming channels. The difference is irl farming and trucking channels are showcasing different things. Farming Sim video game channels are showcasing different things (several channels only do construction and mining, some do logging exclusively, etc).

ATS content, regardless of content creator, can typically be summed up into two categories: just drive or build and drive.

Jeff Favignano is a just drive content creator. FTG does a number of build and drives. And there are plenty of others doing the same. But that is all.

There's no ATS dump truck channel. There's no ATS towing channel. There's no ATS farm trucking channel. There's no ATS log trucking channel. There's no ATS police channel. There's really not even a channel in ATS where one person drives the same truck for more than a couple videos. Yet irl versions of most of these exist and show varied levels of success.

And the reason that these channels don't exist for ATS isn't because necessarily that people have no interest in doing these things: it's because gameplay is locked in such a way as these things are impossible. There are more dump and tow trucks in Farm Sim than ATS. Someone I know even has functional garbage trucks. None of these things are possible in current ATS.

Pretty much every ATS content channel is driving a new truck every video or now doing some convoying with friends. It gets old after a while.

[IamTheOne]

So much this. I noticed this with my YouTube videos, I got the most views with the California revamp for ATS, but when it comes to other things like showing off other trucks, or trailers, or even the air suspension, barely any views. When looking at the Revamp California videos, I released most people were watching because of the quality of the graphics to the map. But that is it.

With all due respect, why bother? Some members of this community have an odd fascination with showing off random aesthetics that don't mean anything (just take a look at the same boring photos that get shared on the Truck Simulator reddit page every day), while the game's outdoor scenery is one of the primary selling points.

As it's been stated in prior posts in this thread, there's no long term appeal in useless customization features. Why should I care when every single truck in this game drives the same? Why should I care about a custom paint job on the side of a truck and trailer when I can just walk outside and look at the trucks on the roads near my apartment complex?

I can tell when a reviewer spends time to really get to know a product and isn't just a polished "quasi spokesperson" for a company. I like LGR for that reason.

On that note, it's unfortunate that LGR has never really gotten back into reviewing American Truck Simulator content. I think it's telling that no major Youtuber has released review content for ATS since its release, and even the Squirrel Channel has moved on to other simulation games, even though he was quite a frequent player in the past.

Maybe Texas will be enough to rekindle the flame? I don't think it will, but one can only hope...

[McFly]

To be fair, despite the added content and features over the years the games are still old and have been released years ago. It's extremely rare that major YouTubers or other review channels revisit an old game because of updates. The only game that comes to my mind right now would be no man's sky but they did an absolute 180 degree turn from release until now and it was a much more hyped and mainstream game back when it was announced and released, and even in that case the new reviews are relatively rare and even other content creators on YouTube or twitch are not that common, despite the game being pretty successful again.

But even though exposure for a game is expected to decrease, I still find it a bit weird that some of the main YouTubers for this game like squirrel have stopped making any content at all and I do hope that the addition of more content, especially Texas, might turn this around at least for a while

[Optional Features]

To be fair, despite the added content and features over the years the games are still old and have been released years ago. It's extremely rare that major YouTubers or other review channels revisit an old game because of updates. The only game that comes to my mind right now would be no man's sky but they did an absolute 180 degree turn from release until now and it was a much more hyped and mainstream game back when it was announced and released, and even in that case the new reviews are relatively rare and even other content creators on YouTube or twitch are not that common, despite the game being pretty successful again.

But even though exposure for a game is expected to decrease, I still find it a bit weird that some of the main YouTubers for this game like squirrel have stopped making any content at all and I do hope that the addition of more content, especially Texas, might turn this around at least for a while

GTA 5 is still played by a massive number of people, some of which feature new cars on their channels.

[IamTheOne]

But even though exposure for a game is expected to decrease, I still find it a bit weird that some of the main YouTubers for this game like squirrel have stopped making any content at all and I do hope that the addition of more content, especially Texas, might turn this around at least for a while

Not necessarily: LGR still conducts reviews for simulation game content such as Sims 4 (limited, but still) and Cities Skylines. He just doesn't feel the need to focus on American Truck Simulator and it's obvious that he hasn't bothered playing the game since he released his initial review.

And let's be frank here, Cities Skylines and Sims 4 have more variety added to the gameplay by way of base game and DLC content, whereas ATS' gameplay is unfortunately very shallow, relying on explorable map content at the expense of gameplay elements that keep players continuously engaged*. I could see someone like "Hey guys, Squirrel here!" coming back to do a review on the Texas DLC **, but I seriously doubt that it would be enough to bring reviewers like LGR back when they weren't really impressed by the base game to begin with.

*Before everyone here starts grabbing their pitchforks, Cities Skylines and Sims 4 aren't the greatest games out there. What I'm saying is that most of their DLCs are able to add fresh gameplay that changes the overall game and makes it interesting for old and new players alike; whereas with American Truck Simulator, DLCs only offer decorative cargo types, and some of the roads aren't even finished by release.

** His "reviews" weren't even reviews of the DLCs anyways: it's just him listing off all the cities included in the DLC, with some generic footage in the background and he concludes it by saying that he likes the DLC. Squirrel isn't much a reviewer, he just did bland overviews of DLC map content.

[Optional Features]

Cities: Skylines gives the player way more control over his or her environment. I wish SCS would take a page out of their book.

[McFly]

To be fair, despite the added content and features over the years the games are still old and have been released years ago. It's extremely rare that major YouTubers or other review channels revisit an old game because of updates. The only game that comes to my mind right now would be no man's sky but they did an absolute 180 degree turn from release until now and it was a much more hyped and mainstream game back when it was announced and released, and even in that case the new reviews are relatively rare and even other content creators on YouTube or twitch are not that common, despite the game being pretty successful again.

But even though exposure for a game is expected to decrease, I still find it a bit weird that some of the main YouTubers for this game like squirrel have stopped making any content at all and I do hope that the addition of more content, especially Texas, might turn this around at least for a while

GTA 5 is still played by a massive number of people, some of which feature new cars on their channels.

GTA 5 is one of the (if not THE) most successful games of all time due to a good number of reasons. No trucking game will ever even come close to that because it's a niche. Not comparable at all imho but I get your point: older games that are still relevant exist, and maybe, just maybe if ats was way more open and diverse in terms of gameplay it might be a little more relevant as well. Though I still believe that highway trucking or trucking in general is way too niche.
Snow runner might be an exception to some point, but that game isn't really about trucking: its more about fun and challenging physics which isnt what ATS is about

[xXCARL1992Xx]

well, GTA 5 is only second successful one in numbers of soled units over 3 generations of consoles + PC, Minecraft has almost 100 million more copies sold

[McFly]

Minecraft is cheaper and better suited for kids which probably also plays a role. Also minecraft is probably still relevant as well I guess

[xXCARL1992Xx]

R* has GTAO they milk into oblivion, i dont know any game that released on so much consoles and the PC got 2 "major" content/enhancements updates with it, this is milking par excellence, Minecraft on the other hand is a full fledged sandbox game engine if you want and not only the blocky game for kids anymore