Train Sim World 5 Launches Into Early Access
From today, players who pre-ordered the deluxe or special editions of Train Sim World 5 will be able to get started with early access. Effectively, it offers a five days' head start with the game compared to standard edition owners. TSW5's full release is scheduled for 17 September 2024.
Players will still be able to join in with the early access period by purchasing or upgrading to either of these editions, even if they did not pre-order the game beforehand. However, the 10% loyalty discount on Steam and Xbox pre-orders has since expired.
TSW5 is the latest in Dovetail Games' Train Sim World series, with new routes, locomotives, a conductor mode, and other core updates. Since its announcement, the team have presented several preview livestreams of the bundled routes and features.
System requirements
Train Sim World 5 will release on PC (Epic Games, Steam, Xbox App), PlayStation (PS4, PS5), and Xbox (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S). PC players will need to be mindful of the system requirements shared by Dovetail Games:
Minimum requirements
- OS: 64-bit Windows 8.1, 10 or Windows 11
- Processor: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X @ 3.7 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 460 with 2 GB VRAM or more
- DirectX: Version 10
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 35 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
- Additional Notes: Requires mouse and keyboard or Xbox Controller
Recommended requirements
- OS: 64-bit Windows 8.1, 10 or Windows 11
- Processor: Intel Core i5-9600K @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 @ 3.6 GHz
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB or AMD Radeon RX 5700 with 8 GB VRAM or more
- DirectX: Version 10
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 80 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
- Additional Notes: Requires mouse and keyboard or Xbox Controller
The standard edition includes the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes (UK), Kinzigtalbahn between Frankfurt and Fulda (Germany), and the San Bernardino route between Los Angeles and San Bernardino (USA) for £39.99 GBP (€44.99 EUR, $49.99 USD).
On top of this, the deluxe edition provides the Avanti West Coast Class 390 Pendolino and Flixtrain BR 193 Vectron, as well as the Cajon Pass (USA) route. It retails at £59.99 GBP (€74.99 EUR, $74.99 USD).
Finally, there is the special edition, further adding Kassel to Würzburg, the London Underground Bakerloo Line, the London Overground Suffragette Line, New York to Trenton, and Bahnstrecke Bremen to Oldenburg. It is priced at £104.99 GBP (€119.99 EUR, $119.99 USD).
There will also be a free starter pack, comprised of the base game with the training centre and a handful of unbranded locomotives. This has been targeted at beginners as well as existing players who want to use the new core features with their DLC collections from previous games. This offer will begin with the game's official launch on 17 September 2024, and last until 17 October.
As has been the case for previous instalments in the series, players will need to redownload DLC for the new game.
To The Trains was provided with a review copy of the game, so stay tuned for our thoughts about the game.
