ETS 2 Coaches: Passenger Boarding Animations May Come in a Later Update

You will not see passengers walking on and off your coach when the Euro Truck Simulator 2 Coaches DLC arrives on November 12, going by what SCS Software showed on its latest Coaches stream. Developer SiSL explained on October 27 that boarding is not animated, in a conversation that also touched on future updates. SCS has not promised boarding animations or given a date for them, but nothing said on the stream rules them out.

The part we are talking about starts at 28:39.

What SiSL said

The subject came up because of the doors. Players asked to control them after the first gameplay video, and host Alex asked whether the team had to work quickly to add that.

SiSL’s answer was that the door animations had already been made. When the team decided to pick up the pace, though, opening the doors looked like something to hold back for later updates. His reason: “passengers is not animated to get in and out”, so open doors with nobody using them might look strange. Then the video came out, players commented, and the team decided to give them the doors anyway.

So the doors are in and the walking is not. Strictly speaking, what SiSL said might wait for future updates was the door feature, and he did not list boarding animations as planned work. We are reading it as a possibility, not an announcement.

Why a later update is plausible

Other things said on the stream point the same way:

• Alex said the plan is one Coaches pack that keeps being updated after you buy it, rather than a run of separate packs as with Road Trip.
• SiSL said the team had been discussing future ideas that same day and that development continues.
• Alex said SCS is already talking to more coach manufacturers, and the release announcement promises more vehicles, customisation and features over time.

If you want to see boarding animations, this is the moment to say so. The doors are proof that comments can change the plan, and SiSL pointed players to the SCS forums as the best place for requests.

How the doors work

The stream also showed how the feature behaves:

• There is no default key. You assign it yourself when you first start.
• You can open the doors whenever the coach is stopped, not only at a station. You cannot drive off with them open, and they will not open on the move.
• At a station, opening the doors is what starts the job.
• Each coach has its own door animation and door sounds.

What else we learned

The 64-minute stream had a few other details we had not seen spelled out before.

Full coaches are possible but not common. Every seat can be assigned to a passenger, so a job can fill the coach to capacity. SiSL said loads will usually be kept lower, because a full coach is heavy on performance.

Cabin lights are a first. SiSL said switchable cabin lights are new to ETS 2. You can turn the main lights on for boarding and leave them off at night, while the night lights stay on in the colour you picked. As with the doors, you bind the key yourself.

You can hide the G-force indicator. Alex said it can be turned off once you no longer need it on screen.

Passengers talk back, and one of them is SiSL. Rough driving makes them vocal, and he confirmed that one of the recorded voices is his.

Options we spotted in the configurator: electric sun blinds on the MAN, removable angle warning stickers, which SiSL said players had asked for, a choice of fuel tank sizes, an optional crew seat, and fabric or leather seats, with leather costing more.

Some numbers. The Volvo is the longest vehicle at 14.3 metres, with 500 hp and an I-Shift gearbox, and the Scania Touring comes at 12.9 or 13.72 metres with a single 450 hp engine and an Opticruise gearbox with retarder. Our list of coaches has more on all three.

The footage is from a pre-release build, so any of this could still change.

Our take

Boarding is the moment a coach game has to get right visually, and we would rather see SCS ship and fix it later than delay the whole DLC for it. It is still the first thing many players will notice at their first station. Open doors with no one walking through them are a compromise, but one that players asked for.

Source: SCS Software live stream, October 27, 2026. Images and video: SCS Software.