Grand Duchess of first-person factory sims Satisfactory has finally reached 1.0 on PC after five years of early access, introducing a “complete story overhaul” along with some new alien tech for you to witness and marvel at via the 1.0 launch trailer below. They also announced a console version, but we don’t care about such things. The only Satisfactory console I care about is the one that lets you deactivate the fog so you can get a clear view of your glittering assembly line empire.
If you’re new to Satisfactory, it’s about turning a completely pristine alien planet into a shiny and creaking network of production lines. You are a “pioneer” working on behalf of the illustrious FICSIT Inc, which needs you to extract and process all important resources and send them into the space elevator for the Save The Day program. It’s possible that FICSIT Inc isn’t quite what they want to be, but be quiet: you’re here to ensure a steady flow of matter to the refinery, and don’t think about ‘worrying undertones’. Or even ‘worrying undertones’: Satisfactory’s satire on space capitalism is not exactly subtle.
In 2020, Rock Paper Shotgun Satisfactory’s far-future Dickensian habitat plunderer Brendan Caldwell was having a ruddy good time. And also a relatively relaxing environment with plenty of free time. “Everything can be adjusted to keep a conveyor belt running as efficiently as possible, or even slow it down to half speed, to make output more stable and avoid clogged conveyors,” he wrote in our Satisfactory early access review. “But the opposite is also true. You can, like me, play the whole thing by ear. Make it a crappy factory. That’s fine. You’re the only human on the planet, no one’s going to fire you.” That’s a good thing, Brendy, because that “unnecessary, mile-long pipeline” sounds like it might have gotten you a few weeks’ suspension without pay.
Satisfactory has become a way since Brendy stunk the Early Access build with his excess plumbing. The 1.0 version adds several technologies, including end-game portals “for near-instantaneous transportation across the vast alien lands”, although this requires “massive force capacity” and access to Singularity Cells. Dimensional Depots, meanwhile, offers “an efficient inventory management option” powered by Strange Alien Matter. I guess you can store things in alternate dimensions. You also have more options to customize your uniform, with a range of colors, helmets, tool trinkets and skins. There’s nothing like a power drill pendant to keep your mind on your work and away from the reason you’re reducing a paradise paradise to a maze of chimneys.
We’ve written a lot about Satisfactory over the years – here’s Alex Wiltshire (RPS in Minecraft) talking about how developers Coffee Stain lied about pipes, and here’s Brendy again praising the golf cart. Personally, I only put a mind-boggling 10 hours into the early access build. I figured out some kind of logjam involving smelters, but I couldn’t fix it. This is the signal for me to start over.