The ultimate transport tycoon franchise is set to return this year with its latest release, Transport Fever 3. This will be the latest iteration in the franchise since Transport Fever 2, which was released in 2019. Transport Fever 3 will give players a chance to build their own transport empire, starting from horse-drawn wagons to the newly introduced helicopters.
We got a chance to go hands-on with Transport Fever 3 earlier this year in our first preview of the game. We learned about the new campaign missions and how the team at Urban Games is aiming to really expand on Transport Fever 2 rather than try to reinvent the wheel. The game is not the only thing that has been in development since the last preview; however, the game will now be published by Paradox Interactive. At Gamescom Opening Night Live, we also learned the release date for the upcoming game: September 29, 2026.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
In this hands-on game session, we got a chance to see how much the game has come along since our last preview. The main things we really went to check out this time around were how much better the UI is, a better look at how companies and landmarks work, and how some things have been streamlined for a more intuitive gameplay experience.
Transport Fever 3 is all about logistics and management, and the UI is vital to that.
Transport Fever 3 is a game full of logistics and management, and thus UI is a vital component to being successful when playing. This was the biggest difference I noticed from my first preview: how much more fine-tuned and useful the UI is now. Buildings, landmarks, or really anything in the game that has some sort of area of effect attribute now have visual circles to see these radii.
Your cargo lines are color-coded to show line efficiency and any pain points within the line. Since delivery time matters, whether it be cargo or passengers, you can easily see the status of your cargo. Passengers will become displeased and upset if lines are taking too long, while cargo will spoil. To balance these changes, new specialized vehicles, buildings, and landmarks help address this. When selecting vehicles for your lines, players can now see a more in-depth look at each vehicle’s pros and cons, and compare them more easily than in the past.
Transport Fever 3 is making your headquarters matter this time around unlike in Transport Fever 2 where it was more for aesthetic this time players will unlock landmarks and other various buildings that will provide bonuses to help players make their cities more prosperous and cargo lines more efficient. Constructing landmarks won’t be as simple as placing them on the map either, as players will need to provide resources to each landmark site in order to construct the landmark.
Location will not only be key to making sure a landmark is in the best place to take advantage of its attributes, but also to being in a location where players can provide construction resources. In my play session, I had placed a landmark down only to realize it would require 400 stone, and at the time I had zero stone going anywhere close to said location.
In Transport Fever 3, every cargo line will matter and not just for money.
I have been talking all about the bonuses; however, some buildings come with negative effects, and while this has been a thing in the past, it seems more defined now, and players will be able to see exactly which buildings are affected and by how much. This goes back to the improved UI that is in Transport Fever 3.
Companies will unlock other buildings beyond landmarks, such as decorations that reduce noise pollution. All of these things are limited; however, as you level up, you can unlock more of the same buildings to be able to place them in various cities across the map.
I touched on this in my previous preview on how managing your lines and buying vehicles became so much more streamlined, along with setting up depots for cargo storage. Being able to just buy a vehicle and add it to a line without having to go through multiple menus is something that seems rather small, but you can really tell the difference.
One of the newer features I got to see was called “Follow Terrain,” and it lets players build roads or railroad tracks that adjust to the terrain instead of forcing you to make giant, canyon-like paths. Now, of course, there are some limitations, especially with elevation, but being able to build along a hillside and not worry about what the proper elevation your road should be without looking like you took an excavator to the cliffside is a great addition.
From first-person view on a train to brand-new vehicles and more, Transport Fever 3 is an evolution of the franchise.
The last major thing I got from my time with Transport Fever 3 is that the team decided to end the “easy money” cargo lines. This means there will be no more just making a simple cargo line and getting money because a delivery happened. If the products being delivered are not being utilized, then players will not receive any money for the deliveries.
I am not going to act like I never set up simple wood-to-timber cargo lines and never actually utilized the timber, so I’m definitely interested in seeing how this change works and what challenges it presents. The team has said that for Transport Fever 3, they want to add more meaningful challenges to the game beyond “just making money.”
Players won’t have to wait too long to figure all this out, as Transport Fever 3 is set to release later this month on September 29th, 2026. There is still some fine-tuning and things that remain to be seen before the game gets to the finish line, but overall this is a game that has a ton to offer and especially to fans of the Transport Fever franchise.
More cargo types, vehicles, systems, and more are coming, and the game looks beautiful. Sitting in first-person view on a train as it goes across the countryside can be quite relaxing and a pretty look, especially for those of us in places that lack trains. Transport Fever 3 aims to expand on what Urban Games has already built, and so far everything seems to be coming together just right.
Transport Fever 3 releases on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 on September 29, 2026.
