After 5 years: "Satisfactory" has been released in full and really hits the spot again

Five and a half years - that's how long the early access phase of the factory building simulator "Satisfactory" lasted. The Swedish developer studio "Coffee Stain" had said from the outset that there was no fixed timetable for the full release: they wanted to develop "Satisfactory" together with the fans. And they jumped at the game concept in droves. "Suchtisfactory" is the name given to the game in the conveyor belt scene. The full release will come when the game is ready.

And now the time has come. On 10 September, "Satisfactory" was finally released in version 1.0. If you don't know "Satisfactory": There is a brief introduction below.

The full release brought "Satisfactory" new player records: 104,677 players were playing at the same time shortly afterwards, according to SteamDB. Early Access also went quite comfortably for an indie game in a niche genre with 15-30,000 people active on Steam at the same time.

"Satisfactory" reaches and engages its fans, as the reviews show: Since its Steam release in 2020, "Satisfactory" has received more than 145,000 reviews - 97 per cent of them positive. The game was initially released exclusively on the Epic Games Store in 2019, where it currently has a player rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.

New features of the 1.0 version

Update 9 is now also live with the full release. The patch notes list a whole armada of new content and "crazy sci-fi features". There's also a background story now. I haven't looked into the game since the update and don't want to spoil anything. You can find information about the story here.

For years, there have been various "work in progress" items in "Satisfactory", which now finally have a purpose. With the previous WiP ore "S.A.M." (Strange Alien Matter), you can convert raw materials into other raw materials, such as limestone into iron. You need the ore together with the WiP finds, the Mercer Spheres, which have also been available for a long time, for the "dimensional depot": If you store parts in such a depot in another dimension, they are available to you at any time. This means you no longer need to have them in your inventory to use them.

"Coffee Stain" also fulfils the wish of many for a fast travel system. The update brings portals that allow you to quickly teleport to other locations on the map. However, they are said to be power-hungry and only available in the advanced game.

The "Quantum Encoder" is the new most advanced building in the game. You use it to produce complex parts. It requires the new raw material "Excited Photonic Matter" to work. Also new is "Ficsonium", a radioactive resource that you unlock at the highest level and can be used as fuel in nuclear power plants.

Here's a look at quantum technology:

What will certainly please many friends of transport optimisation: Brand-6 conveyor belts are now available. They transport 1200 items per minute, 420 items more than Mark 5 conveyors.

The update brings even more buildings and many new cosmetic options for your character and the appearance of your factory. Numerous balancing and quality of life improvements have also found their way into the game. A return to the game could therefore be worthwhile for veterans.

What kind of game is "Satisfactory"?

You don't know "Satisfactory"? Okay, imagine you work for a ruthless corporation and are dropped off on a pristine, idyllic alien planet to exploit it for all it's worth. You begin by searching for iron and copper deposits in a first-person perspective and, if you wish, with up to three friends, and mining these resources first by hand and later with mining machines.

You process the raw materials into increasingly complex parts. You quickly need conveyor belts to connect mining buildings with processing machines. You satisfy your growing factory's hunger for electricity with rows of coal-fired power plants. The dark exhaust fumes from the power plants look really beguiling in the clean air of the planet, especially since the update to Unreal Engine 5 in November 2023.

With various updates over the course of Early Access, many new mechanics have been added to complement the conveyor belt transport system in "Satisfactory", including vehicles, trains, pipelines, flying drones and - as a fast travel replacement for yourself and because you can - "hypertubes". These are tubes that you can use to move quickly between your mining and production areas.

Your production lines need more and more space, so ancient trees have to make way for industrialisation: The chainsaw is your best friend. Lakes and entire landscapes disappear under the foundations of your giant factory. There are also hostile animals, which you first shoot out of existence with a stun gun. But don't expect waves of attackers like in the godfather of the factory building game "Factorio".

If you like the factory building genre, you might also like "Dyson Sphere Programme" or the more recent "Foundry".