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One of the most reliably consistent and effortlessly lovable gaming franchises out there is GIANTS Software’s Farming Simulator. It’s exactly what it sounds like: you drive tractors, manage a farm, tend to animals, and live out a life of hard work in the fields day after day. There’s much more to it though, and it’s endlessly rewarding as a result. To learn more about what’s new in this year’s installment, Farming Simulator 22, Intel Gaming Access spoke with Christian Ammann, Founder and CEO of GIANTS Software.
This year for the first time GIANTS Software is self-publishing Farming Simulator, which means that, as the series continues to grow and evolve, they’ll have more freedom than ever to break new ground. “Farming Simulator 22 is our first self-published game and we have, of course, big plans for the future of the game and the series itself,” said Christian. “Thanks to self-publishing, we reach even more people all over the world.”
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Even More Farming
In Farming Simulator 22 you’ll be able to build your farm in three diverse American and European environments. The game features over 400 machines and a huge variety of equipment from more than 100 real-life agricultural brands such as John Deere, Case, Fendt, and more. There are new crops, new machine categories, and a muddy fistful of fresh features, marking a substantial evolution of the good ol’ farming experience fans have loved in previous games.
One of this year’s biggest new additions is the introduction of seasonal cycles. “Seasonal changes bring new challenges and, thanks to production chains, players can grow their farming operation into an agricultural empire,” said Christian. “With grapes, olives, and sorghum, we have three new crops in the game. Lush vineyards and bushy olive groves, with their specialized equipment, are an exciting addition.”
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Under the Hood
Technically speaking, this is the best Farming Simulator yet. The engine itself got a big overhaul, with DirectX 12 support and Texture Streaming to make sure everyone’s experience looks as sharp as possible. It’s a highly optimized game that runs well on a variety of systems, with mods to enable customization. Working closely with Intel over the years has helped keep the tech sharp, and the fruitful relationship is one of the reasons for Intel’s ongoing sponsorship of the Farming Simulator League.
“We’ve also got a new AI system and a completely reworked sound engine to make the experience more immersive, alongside new gameplay features like production chains, and, of course, the seasonal cycles,” said Christian. Offering an insight into the development process of Farming Simulator’s latest iteration, he added, “Basically, every new addition and every improvement we made affected all the other elements in the game. Since changing even the tiniest element in video game development can cause a butterfly effect, we faced the challenge of making all the pieces come together – and they did.”
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Crossplay and Esports
Another exciting first in Farming Simulator 22 is the cross-platform multiplayer option, which allows cooperative play across PCs and all consoles, including last-gen, while retaining the ability to use mods. “Cross-platform multiplayer emphasizes the ability to cooperate, and a lot of other new features and improvements allow for more creativity and immersion, like the new character creator for individual characters, and the build mode, which allows each operation to be shaped into a unique farm,” said Christian. “And there are a lot of mods available on consoles through our official ModHub, where our internal QA team tests the user-created content which is then made available directly in-game.”
FarmCon, the official community event for modders, developers and players of Farming Simulator, is already well-established, as is the Farming Simulator League (FSL) which has built an esports following around the game. As conventions and in-person events start to pick up once again, we can expect to see the physical Farming Simulator community continue to grow and evolve. One way the company aims to make sure they’re growing in ways that make sense is by listening closely to diehard fans through their partnership programs. Another is by onboarding new players with the Farming Simulator Academy, a growing series of video and text tutorials, available on the official Farming Simulator website.
“We believe in close fan interaction and working together with our community,” said Christian. “Prime examples are our Partner Program, designed to reward our dedicated influencers and content creators, or our Ambassador Program, which intends to create a link between us and basically all regions in the world where we don’t speak the language. Our community team is working together with the fans to create and keep contact with those local communities.”
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You might think that by now the Farming Simulator games must be pretty close to encapsulating everything involved in running a farm. Just how much improvement can there be on a simulation franchise? As it turns out, a lot, actually.
“We want to extend the gameplay experience with new brands, more machines and diverse gameplay elements like the new production chains,” said Christian. “We want a broader gameplay experience while also taking into account industry developments—whether technically, in terms of game development, or in terms of the agricultural industry itself. A good example for the latter would be our free Precision Farming DLC, which was created together with EU-funded EIT Food, and John Deere, to depict modern smart farming technologies.” Even with the latest technology in tow, a farmer’s job is never done, and GIANTS Software wouldn’t have it any other way.
Farming Simulator 22 is available on PC, Stadia, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S consoles. You can also extend your experience with the Year 1 Season Pass bundle, with three additional upcoming pieces of DLC and one expansion.

Preview: Farming Simulator 22 Is an Agricultural Evolution for Gaming’s Most Accurate Farm Life Simulation