Road Kings Gamescom 2026 Demo Impressions!

And it looks like a dream come true for driving enthusiasts

Early access to the game was provided by Focus Entertainment, thank you very much!

Last year I got the chance to play Road Kings the day after the game was announced at the ONL Pre-Show. The demo I played back then was relatively short and limited, mainly giving a taste of the driving system and the natural disasters that would occasionally appear in the game. Now I'm back at Gamescom 2026 to learn a bit more about it and see what's changed and been added over the past year, and what we can expect from the game when it launches in a few months.

I came to the Road Kings demo with hundreds of hours of playtime in ETS and ATS, and that was also my first question to the development team: what sets Road Kings apart from these excellent games? The answer is that in Road Kings, all the systems are much deeper than what SCS created, and this game is a trucker simulator, not a driving simulator. The difference in terminology might sound minor, but it's reflected in the way we can customize almost everything—from our character to our truck's cabin, the overall design of the truck, and even our garage. Another element that shows the game's depth is the reputation system we'll build up. Everything we do will affect our reputation, whether with law enforcement or the companies and clients we work with. For example, we can improve our reputation by unloading goods before the deadline with a certain company, while simultaneously damaging our reputation with the police if we run a red light or drive over the speed limit. The better our reputation, the more perks we'll receive, like the ability to unload goods in the middle of the night and more.

The demo I played this time was at a much higher level of polish compared to last year, and beyond the open world I could freely drive around in, I also completed one story mission. The game director explained that the game will have a story and plot, but like other trucking games, it will be infinite and you can continue playing even after the story ends. In fact, completing the story will unlock additional things we can do, so a lot of the fun only opens up then. Getting back to the mission I completed—it required me to drive the truck down to the bottom of a mine and collect cargo. The problem started when the mine began collapsing and I had to choose between a container where people were hiding or the "original" cargo. Choosing the cargo would yield money, while choosing the people (as I decided to do) would raise our reputation. As I made my way out with the mine collapsing, I had to drive carefully and quickly to make sure I didn't get trapped by the collapsing mine behind me, but also didn't fall off its cliff edge. This mission was very cinematic, and at times it was easy to forget this is a game centered around truck driving.

On the business side of the game, here too we'll see the ability to establish our own trucking company with the option to purchase trucks and trailers, hire drivers, and send them out to do jobs to earn money. Unlike ETS and ATS, here we can combine multiple jobs simultaneously if we plan them correctly. We'll need to consider delivery times, the location of each destination, and the type of cargo when we can combine multiple cargos on the same trailer (provided they're suitable for it). On the technical side of the game, you could see that the AI of other drivers is much more dynamic and reactive to what's happening, whether it's signaling a turn and having drivers make way for you, or failing to yield right of way which will anger them and cause them to flash their lights and honk at you. Finally, I'll mention that while I chose to play with a controller, I was also given the option to play with a steering wheel, as the development team promises broad support for wheels including a dedicated Wizard that will let you map every button.

Like many demos at Gamescom, Road Kings also looks very promising and has a lot to offer fans of the trucking genre. We'll have to see if it truly lives up to all its promises when it launches on March 11th next year.