TRANSPORT
FEVER 3FIELD GUIDEPRE-RELEASE NOTES
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COMPANY / HEADQUARTERS AND RANK

Place your HQ and unlock upgrades

Pre-release | Checked September 28, 2026. Announced TF3 rules; release build not playtested.

The nearest town benefits; world population earns rank

The announced headquarters gives a growth bonus to its nearest town. Company rank rises with world population, and higher ranks unlock HQ expansions and other bonuses. Choose the town you want to support, then follow its growth and the wider world’s population instead of using profit alone as the upgrade target.

The ornate company headquarters building in Transport Fever 3
A headquarters building from the official press kit. Check which nearby town receives the bonus and which expansion your rank unlocks. Official press image · © Urban Games ↗

What to do

  1. Choose the town you want to support. Compare its current passenger and cargo needs with the network you can realistically operate. A growth bonus is most useful when you can also deliver the service that earns growth experience; this is planning advice, not a measured best-town ranking.
  2. Check the nearest-town relationship before committing. Inspect the proposed HQ location against nearby towns. Urban Games describes the nearest town as the recipient; it does not publish a universal radius or an exact placement formula. If two towns are close, use the actual placement information the build provides instead of guessing which will benefit.
  3. Build service that helps the chosen town grow. Supply required goods and completed passenger trips, then inspect weak ratings using the city-growth checklist. The HQ bonus does not replace those underlying needs.
  4. Watch world population and company rank. Expansion unlocks are linked to company rank, which the developer measures by growing world population. Supporting multiple towns can therefore contribute to progression; do not assume a profitable but stagnant network has fulfilled the population requirement.
  5. Review the newly unlocked HQ expansion. When a rank increase makes an expansion available, read its actual effect and any shown costs before applying it. Later expansions add bonuses. Exact rank thresholds, upgrade prices and menu paths are not published in the cited explanation.
WATCH THIS SYSTEM

Tycoon

Town needs, growth ratings, headquarters and company progression.

Watch on YouTube ↗

Official pre-release overview. Use the written checks for this task; older videos may describe plans that later changed.

How to tell it worked

The selected HQ is associated with the intended nearby town, and population growth advances the company’s progression. After an eligible rank unlock, an HQ expansion is available in the actual build. Track these separately: a good location does not establish that an upgrade threshold has already been reached.

If you are still stuck

  • The wrong town receives the bonus: Recheck the closest town to the HQ site. Do not assume the largest town or the town nearest your main station is automatically selected.
  • Rank or upgrade progress stays flat: Look at world population and city-growth constraints, rather than only revenue or the number of vehicles.
  • You started at Tycoon rank: Your difficulty or sandbox settings may already grant progression rewards; compare saves with the same settings.