Software:Satisfactory

From HandWiki

Satisfactory is a 2024 factory simulation game by Coffee Stain Studios for Windows. The player (a "Pioneer") is dropped onto an alien planet with a handful of tools and must use the planet's natural resources to construct increasingly complex factories. The initial goal is to construct a space elevator, through which the Pioneer begins supplying the megacorp the player works for (FICSIT Inc.) with increasingly numerous and complex components for their unknown, but stated to be prudent, purposes. These exports unlock access to new technology that in turn unlocks a new tier of manufacturing and refinement machines to support the production of the next phase of parts to be delivered to FICSIT.

Satisfactory was made available for early access on 19 March 2019. By January 2024, the game had sold 5.5 million copies.[1] The full version of the game was released on 10 September 2024 for PC,[2] and will be released on PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X/S on 4 November 2025.[3]

Gameplay

Satisfactory is played from the first-person perspective and features cooperative multiplayer. The player takes the role of a FICSIT[lower-alpha 1] Pioneer who is sent to the resource-rich planet MASSAGE-2(AB)b to collect and refine resources. They must build out an automated factory and supporting infrastructure. The ultimate goal is the mass-manufacture of unknown components, which are sent to FICSIT using a space elevator.[5] The player spawns on a pre-designed map in one of four locations, and must explore on foot to find resources and lift the fog of war on their map. FICSIT guides the player through a series of tiers, each completed by collecting resources and crafting a specified number of components. Each tier unlocks new equipment, blueprints, and technologies, allowing the player to expand and upgrade their factory. As players advance through tiers, automation becomes necessary to produce the large quantities of complex items that FICSIT requires. Conveyor belts, pipelines, trucks, trains, and drones are unlocked at various stages and are used to transport resources and components. The player must also build and upgrade a power grid to run their factory.[6]

Plot

The player character, an unnamed, female[7] FICSIT employee known as a Pioneer, is dropped onto the surface of MASSAGE-2(AB)b from orbit via a drop pod controlled by FICSIT's AI, ADA. The pod's orientation is interrupted by a cryptic message. Despite a malfunction with all the pod's parachutes, the Pioneer manages to land safely, one of only a few Pioneers in the region to have successfully done so. The Pioneer finds herself without memories, claimed by ADA to be due to retrograde amnesia. Following an onboarding program to refresh the Pioneer's knowledge, she is able to build the HUB, her home base. The Pioneer then constructs a space elevator to commence what ADA refers to as "Project Assembly". ADA reveals that it is actually part of a larger plan known as the Save the Day Program, intended to save Earth. While she does not explain why Earth is in danger, she later implies it is due to corporations' short-sighted destruction of the environment for profits, causing the planet to start becoming uninhabitable.

Finding mysterious alien artifacts known as Mercer Spheres and Somersloops advances a secondary plot line involving a nameless alien intelligence that attempts to speak to the Pioneer via telepathy. While ADA at first believes the abnormal brainwaves when collecting the artifacts to be a sign of brain damage, she eventually realizes it is an attempt to communicate, and uses the Pioneer as an organic conduit to speak to the alien. She gradually deciphers the alien's cryptic speech, and the alien assists ADA and the Pioneer in developing a pocket dimension storage system known as the Dimensional Depot, which can transfer the data of materials to and from the alien's dimension using a dimensional rift it calls a "window". While the alien suggests making it a "door", ADA comments that it would be dangerous or deadly to the Pioneer. If enough artifacts are found, ADA gains enough knowledge to communicate directly with the alien without the use of the Pioneer, and the alien cuts off communication with the player.

When the Pioneer has finished all the Project Assembly tiers, the nature of Project Assembly is revealed to be a starship being constructed via the elevator's orbital platform. The Pioneer assists in launching the ship, and it deploys its warp drive system to exit the star system. ADA leaves along with it, though she creates an exact duplicate of herself to remain on the planet, and gives the Pioneer a promotion, implying their continued work for FICSIT.

Development and release

Satisfactory was first announced at E3 2018.[8] Coffee Stain Studios tested the game through closed alpha test in mid-2018, before releasing it into open early access release in March 2019, initially with a year-long period of exclusivity on the Epic Games Store.[9][10] The game was originally built using Unreal Engine 4 as the studio had past experience with it for their previous titles of Sanctum and Goat Simulator.[11] By November 2023, Coffee Stain migrated the game to Unreal Engine 5, which provided improved performance and a more stable foundation for future updates.[12] The game's world is not procedurally generated, and is instead a number of hand-crafted biomes covering an estimated 30 square kilometres (12 sq mi) area. The map is far larger than the open worlds that Coffee Stain has created in previous games.[4][13]

Full release

Satisfactory was officially released out of early access on 10 September 2024 for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Updated content in this release included modifications of the locations of resource nodes and the cost of recipes, game optimization and server improvements for multiplayer play.[14]

Reception

Critical response

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic91/100[15]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Hardcore Gamer4.5/5[16]
IGN9/10[19]
PC Gamer (US)90/100[17]
Shacknews9/10[18]

Satisfactory received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[15]

Rock Paper Shotgun compared the building element of Satisfactory to Wube Software's Factorio.[20]

Sales

Within three months of its early-access release, over 500,000 copies had been sold.[21] By July 2020, more than 1.3 million copies had been sold,[22] while reaching 5.5 million sales by January 2024.[1] Based on data collected by Simon Carless in mid-2021, Satisfactory had made at least US$11.5 million in revenue, surpassing the amount that Epic Games had assured as a minimum payout to Coffee Stain.[23]

Awards

Satisfactory was named the PC Game of the Year at the 2024 Golden Joystick Awards.[24]

Date Award Category Result
  1. REDIRECT Template:Reference column heading
November 21, 2024 Golden Joystick Awards PC Game of the Year Won [24]
December 31, 2024 The Steam Awards Better With Friends Nominated [25][26]
Most Innovative Gameplay Nominated
February 13, 2025 D.I.C.E. Awards Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year Nominated [27][28]

Notes

  1. FICSIT Inc. is a phonetic play on "Fix It Inc".[4]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Wales, Matt (2 February 2024). "Satisfactory hits 5.5m sales after five years of early access, 1.0 due "this year"". Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/satisfactory-has-sold-55m-copies-after-five-years-of-early-access-10-is-due-this-year. Retrieved 2 February 2024. 
  2. Romano, Sal (5 July 2024). "Satisfactory launches September 10". Gematsu. https://www.gematsu.com/2024/07/satisfactory-launches-september-10. 
  3. "PC mega-hit Satisfactory is coming to Xbox Series X|S this year" (in en-US). 2025-08-22. https://www.trueachievements.com/news/satisfactory-xbox-release. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Watts, Rachel (March 8, 2019). "Goat Sim's creators are swapping chaos for order with Satisfactory's industrial empires". PCGamesN. https://www.pcgamesn.com/satisfactory/satisfactory-gameplay. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  5. Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (September 10, 2024). "Planet-smelting sim Satisfactory is now satisfactory enough to leave early access". Rock Paper Shotgun. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/planet-smelting-sim-satisfactory-is-now-satisfactory-enough-to-leave-early-access. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  6. Fenlon, Wes (March 16, 2021). "Satisfactory may get a final tech tier in a future update to wrap up its endgame". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/satisfactory-may-get-a-tier-9-in-a-future-update-to-wrap-up-its-tech-tree/. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  7. Coffee Stain Studios (2018-08-15). Developer Highlight - Concept Art. Retrieved 2025-10-29 – via YouTube.
  8. O'Connor, Alice (June 12, 2018). "Satisfactory looks a lot like first-person Factorio". Rock Paper Shotgun. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/satisfactory-looks-like-first-person-factorio. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  9. Meer, Alec (March 12, 2019). "Mega-building game Satisfactory is shaping up to be far, far more than satisfactory". Rock Paper Shotgun. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/satisfactory-early-access-preview. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  10. Purchase, Robert (March 9, 2019). "Goat Simulator dev's promising new game Satisfactory hits early access very soon". Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/goat-simulator-devs-promising-new-game-satisfactory-hits-early-access-very-soon. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  11. "Making it in Unreal: the smooth science behind Satisfactory". PCGamesN. September 9, 2019. https://www.pcgamesn.com/satisfactory/making-it-in-unreal-satisfactory. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  12. Nightengale, Ed (November 14, 2023). "Satisfactory upgrades to Unreal Engine 5". Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/satisfactory-upgrades-to-unreal-engine-5. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  13. Purchase, Robert (March 6, 2019). "Satisfactory looks like a cross between Factorio and No Man's Sky". Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/satisfactory-looks-like-a-cross-between-factorio-and-no-mans-sky. Retrieved September 14, 2024. 
  14. Ebanez, Kristina; Benson, Madison (2024-07-05). "Satisfactory 1.0: Release window, new narratives, and more" (in en-US). https://www.destructoid.com/satisfactory-1-0-release-window/. 
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Satisfactory". https://www.metacritic.com/game/satisfactory/. 
  16. Cunningham, James (September 10, 2024). "Review: Satisfactory". https://hardcoregamer.com/review-satisfactory/. 
  17. Bolding, Jonathan (September 10, 2024). "Satisfactory review". https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/satisfactory-review/. 
  18. Denzer, TJ (September 10, 2024). "Satisfactory review: It's right there in the name, pal". https://www.shacknews.com/article/141372/satisfactory-reivew-score. 
  19. Northup, Travis (September 10, 2024). "Satisfactory 1.0 review". https://www.ign.com/articles/satisfactory-review. 
  20. "Satisfactory looks a lot like first-person Factorio". Rock Paper Shotgun. 12 June 2018. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/06/12/satisfactory-looks-like-first-person-factorio/. Retrieved 12 May 2021. 
  21. Bailey, Dustin (June 7, 2019). "Epic exclusive Satisfactory has sold 500,000 copies in under three months". PCGamesN. https://www.pcgamesn.com/satisfactory/sales. Retrieved June 7, 2019. 
  22. MacGregor, Jody (July 5, 2020). "Here's how many copies Satisfactory has sold on Steam and Epic". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-how-many-copies-satisfactory-has-sold-on-steam-and-epic/. Retrieved July 5, 2020. 
  23. Chalk, Andy (August 5, 2021). "Only one of Epic's 'first wave' of exclusives made money, and it wasn't Metro". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/only-one-of-epics-first-wave-of-exclusives-made-money-and-it-wasnt-metro/. Retrieved August 5, 2021. 
  24. 24.0 24.1 Jones, Ali. "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2024 winners". https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/satisfactory-snags-pc-game-of-the-year-at-the-golden-joystick-awards-2024/ar-AA1uwm3v. 
  25. Watts, Steve (December 17, 2024). "The Steam Awards 2024 Nominees Announced". GameSpot. https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/steam-awards-2024-nominees-winners/2900-6093/. 
  26. Eastland, Amy (2024-12-31). "Steam Award Winners 2024 Announced; Black Myth Wukong is Game of the Year" (in en-US). https://wccftech.com/steam-award-winners-2024-announced-black-myth-wukong-is-game-of-the-year/. 
  27. Welsh, Oli (January 10, 2025). "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a GOTY front-runner at the DICE Awards". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/awards/506810/dice-awards-nominations-2025. Retrieved January 11, 2025. 
  28. "28th Annual DICE Awards Results". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. https://www.interactive.org/awards/i92j428th_annual_dice_awards_results_93io35.asp. 
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