Overview
Farming Simulator 25, developed and published by GIANTS Software, launched on Steam on November 12, 2024. You buy fields one plot at a time, then plow, sow, fertilize, harvest, and sell — using the proceeds to buy the next machine.
There is no villain and no ending. The game is built from small decisions: which field to cut first, whether to store grain in the silo and wait for better demand or sell it now.
What matters most is that you personally perform nearly every task from the driver's seat. Hitch a plow, drive to the end of the field, turn, drive back.
Whether that loop reads as "chores" or "calm" decides everything about how you'll feel about this game.
Features and Systems
The core of the series is its enormous licensed machinery roster. Tractors, combines, forwarders, and implements differ in working width, horsepower, and supported tasks, and the constraint that a given tractor can't pull a given implement is itself a real mechanic.
As your fields grow, investing in wider implements to compress working time becomes a genuine capital-expenditure decision.
Beyond crops there is livestock (animals plus the feed and manure loop) and forestry (felling, extraction, delivery to sawmills), running in parallel — you choose your focus. Production chains let you route harvests through mills, bakeries, and similar facilities to add value before selling.
Margins improve, but hauling overhead grows, so it is a genuine trade-off.
AI workers can take over the monotonous back-and-forth while you do something else. They cost wages and handle edge cases like headland work and refueling poorly, so full automation isn't realistic.
Deciding what to automate and what to drive yourself is part of the game.
Multi-player, Co-op, and Online Co-op are supported, so several people can run one farm. Splitting harvesting and hauling scales beautifully on large fields — which is also a hint that solo play on a big farm means more waiting.
System Requirements
| Item | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64bit | Windows 10 64bit |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-6400 / AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or better | Intel Core i7-10700 / AMD Ryzen 7 3800X or better |
| GPU | GTX 1050 Ti / RX 470 or better (min 3GB VRAM, DX12) | RTX 2070 / RX 5700 XT / Intel Arc A750 or better (min 8GB VRAM, DX12) |
| RAM | 8 GB | 12 GB |
| Storage | 45 GB | 45 GB |
| DirectX | Version 12 | Version 12 |
The striking part is the GPU gap. A GTX 1050 Ti with 3GB of VRAM and an RTX 2070 with 8GB are generations and price tiers apart — over 2.6x the VRAM alone.
Farming sims draw wide fields dense with grass and trees plus detailed machinery, so draw distance and foliage density hit VRAM hard. Expect the minimum spec to launch but to need reduced draw distance for stability.
The CPU ask isn't light either. Requiring an i7-10700 for the recommended tier signals that simulation work — crop growth state, vehicle physics, AI worker pathfinding — lands on the CPU.
Run several AI workers at once, or add players in multiplayer, and the CPU tends to bottleneck before the GPU. A GPU-only upgrade won't fix that.
RAM is listed as 8 GB minimum and 12 GB recommended; in practice read 12 GB as "fit 16 GB." At 8 GB, a browser open alongside the game leaves no headroom.
Storage is 45 GB at both tiers, and that figure is for the base game. Modding is extremely active in this series, and vehicle and map mods push actual usage well past that.
Plan for an SSD with room to spare.
Steam also notes that these requirements cannot cover every configuration and that issues may occur. On unusual setups such as laptop integrated graphics, test within the refund window.
Review Trends
The game has held a solidly high standing well past release. Positive comments recur around machinery modeling and handling, the tactile feel of the work itself, and how easily hours disappear.
Many players single out co-op with friends as a different, better game than solo.
Criticism clusters around how much actually changed from the previous entry. With new installments arriving frequently, whether returning players should rebuy is a permanent debate.
Launch-window bugs and lagging mod support also draw complaints, and the series pattern is gradual repair through updates. If you already own the prior entry, check specifically whether the new maps, crops, and features touch how you actually play.
The other recurring gripe is thin tutorialization. Hitching implements, task ordering, and production chains are not self-evident, and some players stall in the first few hours.
Getting Started
Don't buy a big farm first. Take one small field completely through plow → sow → fertilize → harvest → sell.
Doing that loop once teaches you what every implement is for. Skip it and buy more fields, and you just accumulate unfinished work.
Lease rather than buy early on. A combine drains your cash and sits idle outside harvest.
Lease first; buy only what you've proven you use constantly. That single rule fixes most early cash-flow problems.
Don't rush sales either. Harvests can be stored, and demand shifts change what buyers offer.
Holding stock often beats dumping everything at harvest — but not if storage micromanagement delays your next sowing. Early on, sell half for cash and hold half.
About Co-op
Multi-player, Co-op, and Online Co-op let several people work one farm simultaneously. Harvesting gains the most: split combine and trailer duties and the "tank full, everything stops" wait almost vanishes.
Forestry improves similarly when one player fells and another extracts.
One caution: co-op players share farm funds. If someone buys an expensive machine, everyone's money drops, so agree on purchases up front.
Mismatched PC specs also matter — a weaker machine can drag on sync. Compare setups with friends before you commit.
Who It's For
- Players who set their own goals and enjoy working through procedures without a clock or an opponent.
- Anyone genuinely interested in real agricultural machinery; browsing the roster is its own reward.
- Optimization and management fans — production chains plus machinery investment read as a business sim.
- Groups wanting a job to divide up; role splitting translates directly into efficiency.
- Players looking for something to sink very long hours into on a single save.
Cautions and Who Should Skip It
Most of your playtime is driving back and forth across a field. If you want dramatic beats, story, or a clear win condition, look elsewhere.
If those few minutes crossing a field feel tedious in the first hour, that feeling won't change later. Test it inside the refund window by actually plowing one field.
The tutorial is not generous. Hitching, correct task order, and which machine does what all assume you'll look things up.
If hours of not knowing what to do frustrates you, you may bounce off. The flip side: past that wall, it clicks fast.
Owners of the previous entry should think carefully. Year-over-year differences aren't game-changing, and if your old install is heavily modded, the new release can feel thinner until mods catch up.
Verify the new content actually touches your playstyle first.
Be careful if your PC sits at minimum spec. A 3GB VRAM GPU with 8 GB of RAM means turning draw distance and foliage down.
For multiplayer or heavy AI-worker use, target the recommended tier (RTX 2070 / RX 5700 XT class, 16 GB RAM).
Check the Steam store page for language support and included machinery. Supported languages and content can change with updates, and nothing here is guaranteed current.
If a store listing looks inconsistent with actual content, trust official update notes.
One honest note on time: the sow-and-harvest cycle always hands you the next job, so it's hard to find a stopping point. If you only have short weekday sessions, that structure fights you.
Weekend players fit it far better.
