[3] In August 2023, SCS Software announced that it would be creating a new generation of their current game engine, Prism3D [ru], in order to provide graphical and performance bonuses to PC players, while also preparing for the eventual release of console versions of the game.

[a] The game had sold over 9 million units as of March 2021, according to a press release by Renault Trucks.

Players drive articulated trucks in an open world rendition of Europe, delivering loads to a designated location in order to be compensated with money and experience points.

[3] Money earned in the game can be spent on upgrading or purchasing new customizable trucks and ownable trailers, hiring non-player character drivers to take on deliveries, buying more garages and expanding them to accommodate more trucks and drivers.

The base game features 71 cities in twelve countries, over twenty types of cargo and over fifteen fictional European companies.

The base game features Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, north-eastern France, Germany, northern Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, western Poland, Bratislava in Slovakia, Switzerland, and most of the United Kingdom.

Update 1.48.5 included the addition of Trieste and reworked the cities of Ancona and Bari to better prepare the game for the West Balkans DLC release.

They also praised the graphics, stating that "[f]rom the shape of the traffic lights to the atmosphere of the backdrops, there's a sense of individuality to each new territory you uncover, and the trucks themselves are lovingly recreated with an intricate level of detail", although they did criticise the AI of the other vehicles on the road.

[35] In a similarly favourable review, Tim Stone of PC Gamer called it "unexpectedly engrossing", praising the size of the map and the variation of the roads and scenery available.

He did however have reservations about the accuracy of the surroundings, commenting "no one seems to have told SCS's countryside crafters that rural Britain features long green things called hedges.

[40] Initially released for Windows and available for purchase and download via SCS's own website, the game was added to Steam in January 2013.

[44] On 27 February, they stated "the Mac OS port of ETS 2 is taking longer than anybody would like, but trust us, we are still working hard on it.

"[45] On 19 December 2014, SCS Software announced on their blog that the OS X version of the game was ready for a public beta available on Steam.