Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 297 sampled Steam reviews (286 positive / 11 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
Positive reviews don't converge on specific aspects.
What negative reviews complain about
Negative reviews don't converge on specific aspects.
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
90%
51 reviews
5-15h
99%
75 reviews
15-40h
94%
89 reviews
40-100h
100%
49 reviews
100h+
100%
33 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 70 | 16 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 96% | 91 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 74 | 13 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 97% | 93 | 183 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 89.7, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 38,578 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 524 total reviews in window · weighted 228.9 up / 6.8 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (5)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 70
“Developers from the Polish studio Red Dot Games have chosen the path of slow evolution of their brand, I'm still waiting for a revolution. I wanted a shiny new car straight from the factory, instead I got a decent used car, which, albeit pretty and working, isn't that spectacular.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 is a solid upgrade to the CMS series. All of the updated items and graphics will be a welcome addition to past players and a perfect place to start for new ones. It certainly isn't a game anyone would want to binge over a weekend, but any car repair fan will enjoy this one for years to come - or until the next instalment in the series, if it continues to evolve and adapt towards more detail-oriented play.”
read full review ↗ - 71
“There are some minor improvements here and there, but there’s no new big feature that screams, that’s where 3 years of development went. The only one reason to get CMS2021 for the full price is if you somehow missed the 2018 version. [Issue#256, p.56] ”
- 75
“Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 relies on established features. Ultimately, the simulation lacks innovations.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 is, more than anything else, a light remaster of the previous instalment. It’s really pretty and its minigames are fun, but if you’re looking for anything significantly new, you’ll be disappointed. If you own CMS2018 with all its DLCs, there’s little reason to switch to the new one. ”
read full review ↗
Gamepressure
Screen RantPatch history
- Pickup DLC + Patch 1.0.40Jul 7, 2026
- Hotfix 1.0.39.hf1Mar 30, 2026
- Rims DLC + Patch 1.0.39Feb 3, 2026
- Unity Security Vulnerability FixOct 23, 2025
- Hotfix 1.0.38.hf1Aug 18, 2025
- Police DLC + Patch 1.0.38Jul 28, 2025
- Hotfix 1.0.37.hf2Feb 17, 2025
- Hotfix 1.0.37.hf1Jan 20, 2025
- Taxi DLC + Patch 1.0.37Jan 17, 2025
- Patch 1.0.36May 13, 2024
- Rims DLC + Patch 1.0.34Jan 8, 2024
- Hotfix 1.0.33.hf1Nov 29, 2023
- Patch 1.0.33Nov 28, 2023
- BMW DLC + Patch 1.0.32Nov 21, 2023
- China DLC + Patch 1.0.31Sep 12, 2023
- Hotfix 1.0.30.hf2Jul 6, 2023
- Hotfix 1.0.30.hf1Jun 30, 2023
- Hotfix 1.0.29hf1Apr 3, 2023
- Ford Remastered DLC + Patch 1.0.29Mar 24, 2023
- Hotfix 1.0.28.hf1Feb 2, 2023
- Mercedes Benz-DLC & Patch 1.0.28Jan 26, 2023
- Patch 1.0.27Nov 25, 2022
- Hotfix 1.0.26.hf2Nov 11, 2022
- Hotfix 1.0.26.hf1Nov 9, 2022
- Drag Racing DLC + Patch 1.0.26Nov 9, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix 1.0.25.hf1Sep 20, 2022
- Aston Martin DLC + Patch 1.0.25Sep 19, 2022
- Hotfix 1.0.24.hf1Jul 29, 2022
- Mazda Remastered DLC + Patch 1.0.24Jul 26, 2022
- Patch 1.0.23May 5, 2022
- Patch 1.0.22Apr 13, 2022
- Patch 1.0.21Apr 11, 2022
- Hotfix 1.0.20.hf4Mar 17, 2022
- Hotfix 1.0.20.hf3Mar 11, 2022
- Hotfix 1.0.20.hf2Mar 10, 2022
- Hotfix 1.0.20.hf1Mar 10, 2022
- Patch 1.0.20Mar 10, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix 1.0.19.hf1Feb 8, 2022
- Patch 1.0.19Feb 8, 2022
…and 24 earlier patch announcements.