Dovetail Games Season Of Reveals 2025 - Week 3

You missunderstood my comment. I am not demanding a complex game and then complaining, I am just stating the facts to the poster above mine why DTG abandoning the game from content side is in no way a good herring for the future. That this is the first step in slowly dwindling support for the game overall not a financial genius move. Consoles will be hit the hardest of all either way it goes, their experience is already horrible, if nothing is fixed and only content is released that is definitely horrible news.

 

Also just to add DTG left a TON of money on the table in the TSC era because it was the complete wild west for 3rd-party content. Since it was 100% PC and the engine was easier to get a grip on it was fairly trivial to self-publish and DTG got 0% of that money.

In TSW it's a complete reversal- DTG gets a cut of everything published for TSW, barring the odd fan-made editor project, which let's be frank, pop up for a few minutes on these forums and then mostly disappear from the community consciousness.

I'd argue it's financially impossible for a 3P to self-publish these days (JT already having e-commerce setup for their TSC stuff certainly gave them a leg-up there but they still have to pay DTG's cut for most sales).

It's SO HARD to get visibility on console stores or Steam even WITH a big publisher. There's literally dozens of games launched every single day! With a smaller one or none at all it's just about as likely as winning Powerball.

I guess that's a long-winded way of saying the sim market has changed a ton in the past 10-15 years along with the broader gaming industry. I don't think any of us can be super confident how any of this shakes out tbh.

 

I have the impression that things have changed radically since Focus took over.
And how could it be otherwise?
New heads, new strategies.

 

No it's not, it's premature, because there simply aren't enough 3P's producing quality add- ons, especially for North America but also for the UK and elsewhere too.

DTG still need to be a developer producing quality dlc and refining the core game for quite a while yet.

I'm not sure if there will ever be sufficient 3P output to sustain the game at its present release level without DTG.

 

Compare the number produced then and now, including both DTG and third party as a total.
Is it really less than it was?

 

Only premature if they aren't working on something new instead.

Only two paid 1P DLCs in known development (one of which is a loco, so likely a much smaller team), and if something hasn't been announced yet, it's unlikely to be released for TSW6 as we're getting down to about 9 months til the release of TSW7 (we all know it's inevitable).

So, what are they working on then?

They say bug fixes but i'm just a bit doubtful

 

Trent Valley seems well into production based on the screenshots. Not like really soon but I definitley wouldn't say next september

 

September would clash with the release of TSW 7

So probably either before/during the summer or some time later in the fall.

 

I'd take that bet. A new Train Sim Universe based on UE5 would be a disaster, both technically and in sales. The player base are not going to throw away their expensive DLC collections, and DTG are not going to rebuild it in UE5 except as paid content. And if you think TSW is plagued by stutters and low framerates now... well, UE5 says "Hold my beer."

 

There are 19 DLCs on that roadmap graphic, how can anyone say there isn't much in development?

 

What are DTG (and main UK content subcontractors Rivet) working on that can’t be announced, even in the season of reveals? The missing UK content? Well…

The first GBR branded content. That’s what. The real trains start to roll out in Spring 2026 and the TSW versions will not be far behind. They have kind of already leaked it if you think about it. The distinct lack of any DTG made UK content on the roadmap just confirms it. That just never happens. They can’t announce it yet for obvious reasons.

You know it’s about this time of year I like to correctly predict some kind of blue train. I’m doing that again now

 

only help would be DLSS with DLAA for PC or the Change to the UE 5.6
There is no Hope for the current Game

 

I did have a pretty long winded reply to those moaning about "more WCML" and "another North West route" but frankly can't be bothered. Just look at it this way,

Unless DTG pull a fast one like in previous instances and have it release for TSW7 (in the same way that some "delayed" projects came out for TSW6 despite being announced for TSW5...

I am sure that the DTG/Rivet TSW7 UK route will be another one handled drive route, probably ex-SWR but almost certainly something in the London area. To be fair to Rivet, they did a good job on the Rivera Line (in my opinion), though I am thankful that my area and era are thoroughly in the realm of JT

 

I'll make a bold prediction.

DTG have known for some time that Unreal Engine is not the future for the new train sim they are planning.

They are developing a new sim using either an in-house engine or one off the shelf that better suits the purpose. Any suggestions as to what it might be?

TSW will continue just like TSC has done and players will play it alongside the new Train Sim Cosmos ( or whatever it's called. )

 

Well, they did for TSW...

 

You mean, all of those console TSC players? Oh, wait...

 

Did DTG move content from TSC to TSW? The precedent is that they don't move across to a new engine.

 

You mean two entirely unrelated games?
Different features, different platforms, different ways of playing.... entirely different games that just both happen to have "Train" in the title?
And the previous game is STILL fully supported so you didn't "lose" anything?
Not the best example.

 

But it is the valid example, it was made pretty clear in the video previewing Metro Rivals that it's a test bed for "the next simulation game", there will never be a TSW in UE5 game, it will be a brand new game, so the prededent set by TSC > TSW will apply. Just like TSC, existing players of TSW won't lose anything as it will still be in TSW, it just won't transition across to whatever comes "next".

 

But TSW was a "brand new simulation" after TSC, and TSC still exists.
What did players "lose" in TSC?
If there is a "new sim" you can buy that in ADDITION to TSW and TSC you already have if you want.
Or.... you can not buy it.
Just like people still play both TSC and TSW.
So the statement you will "lose everything" is false.
Just like it'd be false to say people "lost everything" in TSC when TSW appeared.
You would in fact only GAIN another option, losing nothing.

 

While you would gain another game, the content wouldn't necessarily transfer. I don't know about other players (though based on what I've read, I imagine lots would agree), but to me a large part of the TSW appeal is layering of DLC. A new game would be very unlikely to facilitate layering of owned TSW content.

 

And who is to say that the UE5 train sim will be TSW?