Update: This article previously erroneously mentioned that the GoG version does not have the same limitation. It does.
OpenTTD is perhaps one of the most iconic tycoon games among the gaming sphere. Given that the original game is made by Chris Sawyer, of RollerCoaster Tycoon fame, that's really no surprise. I've effectively told you all before that it's literally a free game that will take hundreds of hours away, so just go get it! That "free" however is now coming with an asterisk.
On March 12 2026, the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe was ported over to Steam and GoG, marking the very first time the original version of the game has been legally available to purchase since its original release in 1995. This however has caused a slight problem OpenTTD's availability on both platforms.
On March 14, the official OpenTTD blog announced that the game would no longer be obtainable as a standalone product on Steam.
Quote From Owen Rudge (orudge) OpenTTD has been available on the Steam Store for the past five years. During that time, we’ve built up an incredible player base, attracting lots of new players to the game. Starting today however, OpenTTD will no longer be directly available as a standalone game on Steam. It can instead be obtained as part of a bundle alongside the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe, which has been re-released by Atari and is now available to purchase via Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can purchase the bundle here for $9.99.
Please read on for more details on this change.
What does this mean for you?
If you already own OpenTTD on Steam, nothing changes. You’ll continue to receive game updates as usual. If you ever need to re-download the game, the game will remain in your Steam library.
For any new players interested in owning OpenTTD on Steam or GOG, you will need to purchase the Transport Tycoon Deluxe / OpenTTD bundle, allowing access to both the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe and OpenTTD as separate products.
Wait, is the game no longer free?
The game remains free. However, to download OpenTTD on Steam moving forward, you must purchase the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe game alongside it.
What is in the new Transport Tycoon Deluxe on Steam?
It’s a faithful emulation of Chris Sawyer’s original Transport Tycoon Deluxe, now playable on modern machines.
What about other platforms and stores?
The same change has been made on the GOG.com store. All other distribution platforms are unchanged, and you can continue to download OpenTTD from our web site. However if you enjoy playing OpenTTD but you were never able to purchase a copy of the original Transport Tycoon game, you now have the opportunity to do so!
Does this affect the future of OpenTTD?
OpenTTD continues to be developed by a team of independent developers, supported entirely by you, the players. There has been no change to the development team, our workflow, or the open source nature of the project. We will continue to deliver new versions of OpenTTD to all platforms, including Steam and GOG.
Help and support
If you want to ask questions about OpenTTD, make suggestions, or report bugs in the game, nothing has changed - see details here. Transport Tycoon Deluxe and the new Steam and GOG listings are managed and supported by Atari.
Just to clarify, the game itself is still free on Steam (and GoG), but in order to acquire it, you will now need to buy the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe, which defaults to an asking price of $9.99 USD. When you buy Transport Tycoon Deluxe, you will also get OpenTTD as a free bonus. This is also not changing the functionality of OpenTTD on Steam. It will still be updated regularly just like it was before.
This also applies to the GoG version. You can still play OpenTTD if you already have it, but from this point onwards, you will need the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe otherwise.
You can of course, still download the game for free on the game's official website.
This does provide a legal way to obtain all of the original assets from the original game, but predictably, it's not great for Steam users who now have the game locked behind a paywall if they didn't already grab it. Hopefully you did.
Update: On March 19, Rudge recently added the following statement:
Quote From Owen Rudge (orudge) I wanted to provide an update on the situation with OpenTTD on Steam and GOG, and what the Atari re-release of Transport Tycoon Deluxe means for OpenTTD. There has been a lot of speculation and, in some cases, misinformation spread about what has happened. Our initial announcement perhaps didn’t provide as much detail as we could have, but I want to reassure OpenTTD fans that we have not been “pressured” by Atari to make these changes.
Atari approached us to explain their plans for the Transport Tycoon Deluxe re-release, and what it might mean for OpenTTD. They are keen to work with us, and hope that the new release will be welcomed by the community who have been playing OpenTTD for the past 20+ years. We discussed these plans, and we understood that a compromise would be needed to balance Atari’s commercial interests (which of course they are entitled to pursue as the rights holder) against the availability of a free, well-developed evolution of the game. The decision was made that access to OpenTTD on these platforms would be conditional, for new players, on purchasing Transport Tycoon Deluxe first, while retaining the ability to download OpenTTD for free from our web site. Some have suggested that we should have chosen to remove OpenTTD from Steam and GOG entirely, but that would have caused unnecessary disruption to the many thousands of people currently enjoying the game on these platforms, and would have potentially prevented new players from discovering the game in future.
The OpenTTD project owes a lot - indeed, it owes everything - to Transport Tycoon Deluxe and to Chris Sawyer. Without TTD, there would be no OpenTTD - it’s as simple as that. As I covered in 2024, OpenTTD started off as a pretty much perfect clone of TTD, and though the game has evolved almost beyond belief since 2004, it is still rooted in the fundamentals of Transport Tycoon Deluxe. Agreeing to collaborate with Atari on their re-release not only enables you to go back and play the original game as it was in 1995, but helps to ensure OpenTTD remains a thriving project for years to come.
Additionally, as part of the discussions we held, Atari agreed to make a contribution towards the running costs of our server infrastructure. We are also extremely grateful for the many donations that have come in over the past few days from users - your support will help keep our services going, and it is deeply appreciated.
I understand that these changes have provoked strong feelings in the community, but I feel it important to emphasise that Atari have worked collaboratively with us, and that OpenTTD as a project retains its full independence. Even after reading this, you may still not agree with the choices that we’ve made, but I would please ask you to share your views respectfully. The Transport Tycoon community has been a source of joy in my own life for well over a quarter of a century, and it would be fantastic for us to be able to continue to enjoy these brilliant games well into the future.
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