Upon learning that we were media representatives from China, Nico Heini, Publishing Manager at Urban Games, enthusiastically introduced the new gameplay features of Transport Fever 3. They know that Chinese players have always been an important part of the series, which is why they specifically added gameplay for building large highway interchanges—because Chinese players particularly enjoy constructing large, complex infrastructure and highway projects. Additionally, to reward the support of Chinese players, this installment includes Eastern landmarks like the "Summer Palace" and train vehicles representing modern China, such as the "Fuxing."
Transport Fever 3 is the latest entry in the transport simulation and management series, developed by Swiss studio Urban Games and published by Paradox Interactive. It launches on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on September 29, 2026. Before the official interview, the development team walked me through the game, introducing its new features one by one.
Unlike many sequels that start from scratch, Transport Fever 3 has not discarded the series' core gameplay—route planning, vehicle scheduling, and supply chain management. Instead, it follows an innovation path of "easy to learn, hard to master": on one hand, redoing tutorials, lowering barriers, and continuously polishing usability; on the other, deepening the gameplay. Cities are now endowed with eight "demands" that need continuous satisfaction, combined with landmark buildings, modular corporate headquarters, and tier-based unlocks. City growth has evolved from simply laying tracks and collecting money into a more layered simulation and management experience.
A detail that really reflects the design philosophy is that Transport Fever 3 includes a full day-night cycle and weather system, but deliberately makes it purely visual. It can be toggled on or off at any time and does not interfere with route planning. Meanwhile, new mechanics affecting "demand," such as reputation and noise, significantly increase playability. But if players start finding it too complex, they can turn off any of these features using the custom difficulty options.
In short, between offering more new content and allowing players to play at their own pace, the team wants to give the choice back to the players. The best embodiment of this design philosophy is the mod functionality. A full year before Transport Fever 3's release, Urban Games invited top authors from Transport Fever 2 and Cities: Skylines to try the game early. To date, hundreds of mods have been released. For example, they highlighted a creator from Hong Kong, China, who created a complete fishery industry that can be built directly on land, as well as an airport capable of handling seaplanes. Veteran players know that a game ecosystem continuously driven by the mod community to spawn new gameplay is one of the hallmarks of the Transport Fever series.
Therefore, in the following interview segment, we will discuss beginner accessibility, development trade-offs, the boundary between management and simulation, the mod ecosystem, and what the developers want to say to Chinese players:
Q: Compared to its predecessor, these new systems in Transport Fever 3 represent quite disruptive innovations. What was the biggest obstacle the team faced while developing these new gameplay elements? Were there any disagreements or debates during the process?
A:The biggest challenge has always been constantly re-evaluating what constitutes the core of the current gameplay. The team has countless ideas—Transport Fever 3 itself already accommodates a vast number of them, and even after completion, thousands more new ideas emerged. Therefore, it's crucial to prioritize, deciding what to include first and what to set aside for later.
Even though Transport Fever 3 is already complete, the team still has a huge pile of feature ideas for future updates. This naturally leads to disagreements and requires careful consideration of resource allocation and trade-offs. However, the team believes that such debates are necessary and healthy, as clashing viewpoints help clarify the development direction.
Q: Transport Fever 3 adds numerous systems such as reputation, noise pollution, and individual citizen simulation, which might cause information overload for beginners. Is the team concerned that the entry barrier has actually increased? How did you design the game to help players quickly distinguish priorities and get started rapidly?
A:First, we have a tutorial for beginners. Although Transport Fever 2 also had a tutorial, it was relatively poorly done, whereas Transport Fever 3 features a genuine tutorial that allows even players unfamiliar with this genre to get started. Second, the campaign mode consists of eight missions, with the first four serving as system tutorials. Each mission focuses on a specific aspect of the game, and by completing them sequentially, players naturally gain a more comprehensive understanding of the game as a whole. Third, we present game objectives visually. For example, cities have different levels, and fireworks celebrate when a city upgrades. New players can instantly see that development is going well here, helping them quickly understand what is happening in the game world and find their direction.
Regarding concerns about information overload, we have highly customizable options to address these issues. Each city has eight different "demands," and players can manually adjust the impact of each demand on the city, or even turn them off completely. For example, if you don't want to worry about reputation during your first playthrough, turn it off. If you don't want to deal with noise, turn that off too. All systems can be toggled individually.
Additionally, there are four difficulty levels: ranging from "Very Easy," with no financial pressure, reputation concerns, noise, or other issues, to "Very Hard," which requires meticulous management in all aspects. The system provides preset combinations for players to choose according to their needs.
Q: Transport Fever 3 adds a subway system, upgrades air transport gameplay (such as helicopters), and optimizes the shipping mechanics that were criticized in the previous game. How do these changes specifically enhance the overall playing experience and address the long-term expectations of veteran players?
A:First, let's clarify one point: Transport Fever 3 does not have a complete "subway" system. Instead, trams can be laid underground, creating an effect similar to subways. Helicopters and other aircraft serve a dual purpose: they look good, and they are practical. They are especially useful when you need to quickly transport goods from point A to point B. This works in conjunction with the new "cargo timeliness" mechanic in Transport Fever 3: each batch of cargo has an ideal transport time from A to B. If the chosen route is too slow, temporarily dispatching a helicopter can handle emergencies and avoid timeouts.
A deeper layer of the design philosophy is that the fun of the game comes from decision-making. Remember, decisions are only interesting when they have consequences. For example, building a green road lined with trees reduces urban pollution, but the side effect is slower vehicle speeds and longer cargo transport times, requiring players to weigh the pros and cons. Of course, if you don't want to worry about this, you can turn off these mechanisms at any time and play directly in Sandbox mode.
Q: The Transport Fever series focuses on cross-era infrastructure simulation. Will future updates for Transport Fever 3 include near-future vehicles? For example, more sci-fi transportation configurations like vacuum tube trains?
A:The game's timeline spans roughly from 1900 to around 2020, with actual vehicles covering up to approximately 2030. The base game always stays close to reality—it already includes a very modern Chinese train, the "Fuxing." As for near-future sci-fi vehicles, our current stance is that they are not included, but we never rule out the possibility. However, the modding community will satisfy this demand; some futuristic, Blade Runner-style vehicle mods have already emerged. Players can fully realize sci-fi transportation through mods.
Q: Negative effects such as noise pollution and low reputation directly hinder city development. How are these mechanisms linked and calculated at the underlying level? If players cause ecological damage to the city and suffer reputational loss, are there remediation mechanisms? What severe penalties do players face when reputation drops to its lowest point?
A:There are ways to recover, but improvement won't happen overnight; players need to earn it back gradually. There are three specific methods. First, "subsidy"-type random event missions—for example, a sudden demand appears nearby, requiring you to transport a batch of stone from one location to another, rewarding substantial funds and other bonuses upon completion. Second, landmark buildings—these are difficult to construct and require large amounts of materials, but once built, they provide buffs to the city.
As for penalties: in the standard Tycoon mode, players can go bankrupt. Once bankrupt (for example, with a debt of twenty million dollars), you can no longer build anything, effectively ending the game. However, this mechanism can be toggled on or off. If you wish to continue playing, you can save your game as a Sandbox mode and reload it, removing financial pressure.
Q: Transport Fever 3 designs independent daily schedules for each citizen, making cities look more lively. How much CPU performance pressure does simulating all citizens bring? Can viewing citizen schedule data really help players optimize their transport routes?
A:It indeed requires significant computation, but the team's proprietary engine has been refined for over fifteen years and is continuously optimized. Transport Fever 3 performs much better than its predecessor, even with much larger city scales. The team is fully aware of the importance of performance to players and has invested heavily in this area.
Observing individual citizens has practical value: you can see where they live, where they go shopping, and where they work. This provides inspiration at the individual level—for example, discovering that many people want to travel to a certain town but lack a connecting route. You can then create a new transport line between these two cities. This helps players quickly identify transport demands.
Q: Transport Fever 3 adds a significant amount of city management content, shifting the overall gameplay more towards city-building simulation. How does the team define the boundary between transport simulation games and city management games? Is there concern that veteran players focused on infrastructure and track laying might struggle to adapt to the new gameplay?
A:No need to worry at all. If you want it to remain the same game as before, you can simply turn off all the new systems. Transport Fever 3 is essentially a better version of the same game: more gameplay, better performance, and improved graphics.
In our view, there is no strict either-or boundary. Transport Fever 3 is fundamentally still a transport simulation game, just with many additional features. For example, the game has a function that allows you to enter traffic intersections and set labels for each lane individually. You never have to use it if you don't want to, but players who want to delve deeper can engage with it in great detail. The team caters to different types of players: some want pure simulation, some want management, and others just want to build aesthetically pleasing things in a sandbox. The game is designed to be customizable according to personal preference, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their type, can have fun.
Q: Mods are the core of the Transport Fever series. The official announcement stated that Transport Fever 3 would open mod tools at launch. So, what specific improvements have been made to the new mod tools and accompanying documentation compared to the previous game?body upgrades? Are there any brand-new features designed specifically for mod creators? Or examples of responses to suggestions from the previous game's community and mod authors?
A:The mod tools indeed add a large number of new features, while the overall experience is much more beginner-friendly—it's easier to get started with creating mods for the first time. For example, the mod system introduces concepts like "transformers," which can apply specific actions to vehicles. For instance, for an aircraft with four rotors, creators can make only two rotors spin while taxiing on the ground, with all four spinning after takeoff. Another example is the lighting system, which now allows coloring specific effects—want to add flame effects to the tail of a Concorde supersonic jet? Want to change the color of train smoke? It's all possible. Each new feature was designed with mod interfaces in mind, allowing players to modify the game in ways even the team hadn't imagined.
Furthermore, the team has established a "Creator Mod Program": inviting a group of top mod authors from Transport Fever 2 and Cities: Skylines to join the game testing a full year in advance. They had ample time to create building and vehicle mods, and we provided some small compensation. Meanwhile, feedback from these authors was used to further improve the mod tools. As a result, Transport Fever 3 launched with hundreds of different mods from around the world on day one—including vehicle mods, script mods, localization mods, and more, offering considerable variety.
Q: Finally, is there anything you would like to say to Chinese players?
A:First of all, we sincerely thank the Chinese community for their support, and we hope you enjoy the new features in Transport Fever 3. We know that Chinese players are a vital part of the Transport Fever series, with a player base comparable to, or even larger than, that of Germany. The team is well aware that Chinese players particularly enjoy building large-scale, complex infrastructure and highway projects, so we have been focusing on this aspect. For instance, we have enriched the gameplay for constructing major highway interchanges, added unique vehicles like the "Fuxing" high-speed train, and included landmarks such as the "Summer Palace."
The team hopes to reward this support with an excellent new game, and we hope you will enjoy it.