Transport Tycoon is a business simulation designed and programmed by Chris Sawyer and published by MicroProse for MS-DOS in November 1994. Sawyer began building transport simulation prototypes in October 1992 and wrote the whole game in x86 assembly language. Simon Foster drew the art and John Broomhall composed the music.
Transport Tycoon Deluxe followed in November 1995 with new climates, signals and vehicles. In Japan the game appeared on Mac in 1996, on Saturn on 20 November 1997 from Imagineer, and on PlayStation on 6 August 1998 as Transport Tycoon 3D. A 2013 mobile game called Transport Tycoon for iOS and Android was based on Chris Sawyer's Locomotion instead.
Atari acquired the rights from Sawyer in November 2024 and brought Deluxe back to Steam and GOG in 2026.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Transport TycoonReleased in North America and Europe. | MS-DOS | November 1994 | MicroProse | 1 |
| EU | Transport Tycoon | MS-DOS | November 1994 | MicroProse | 1 |
| WW | Transport Tycoon DeluxeRegion not specified in the source; compatible with Windows 95. | MS-DOS | November 1995 | MicroProse | 1 |
| JP | Transport Tycoon | Mac | 1996 | — | 1 |
| EU | Transport Tycoon | PlayStation | Sep 15, 1997 | Ocean Software, MicroProse | 1 |
| JP | Transport TycoonJapan only; developed by Imagineer. | Saturn | Nov 20, 1997 | Imagineer | 1 |
| JP | Transport Tycoon 3D | PlayStation | Aug 6, 1998 | Unbalance Corporation | 1 |
| WW | Transport Tycoon DeluxeSteam; also macOS and Linux. | Windows | Mar 12, 2026 | Atari | 2 |
Also known as: Transport Tycoon Deluxe WW1Transport Tycoon 3D JP1
Box art by region
NA Transport Tycoon
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
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ContentOriginal (1994)Deluxe (1995)
The 1994 original has only a temperate climate and a 1930–2030 timeline; Deluxe adds sub-tropical, arctic and Toyland climates with ten maps each and moves the timeline to 1950–2050.1
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GameplayDeluxe (1995)
Deluxe adds one-way signals, diagonal track, maglev trains, heliports, share trading and IPX network play.1
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TextDeluxe (1995)
Deluxe replaces the real vehicle names of the original with fictional ones because of trademark issues.1
Where to play legally today
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Steam Purchase
Transport Tycoon Deluxe
1995 Deluxe edition with the world editor
Checked: 2026-10-132store.steampowered.com
How to run it today
Atari's 2026 re-release of Transport Tycoon Deluxe on Steam runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. OpenTTD, an open-source recreation of Deluxe first released in 2004, ships with free graphics and sounds and does not need the original files; it is free on its developers' site, while the Steam and GOG versions of OpenTTD now require owning the re-release.
- OpenTTD openttd.org
Reception
Critics praised the graphics, depth and addictive play, while the manual and computer opponents drew mixed reactions. PC Gamer gave it 91/100 and PC Zone 94%; in 2015 Rock Paper Shotgun ranked Deluxe 50th among the greatest strategy games.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.