There have been rumours floating around that Wube Software intends to make Factorio’s next expansion pack just as large as the game’s first release. After four years in early access, Factorio, an industrial simulation game, will be made available to the general public in August of 2020. Even yet, the game was afflicted by over 100 bugs and other issues that had to be resolved in patch 1.1, which was issued six months after the game’s initial release. Since the creators initially revealed their plans for the Factorio expansion pack, fans have been patiently waiting.
According to Wube’s first remark, the preparations for this expansion would not be completed in less than a year, and now, nearly precisely one year later, an update on the planned expansion release has been published. There will be a patch included with this expansion pack, according to the creators, to solve various issues that have arisen since patch 1.1. Wube intends to complete all of its remaining development goals for Factorio with the DLC and the patch.
Wube’s blog post was the subject of a recent PCGamesN story.
The DLC for Factorio will cost $30, the same as the base game, but the makers say they’ve included enough content to make it worth the money. Large chunks of the game are already playable, and they expect to be able to playtest the entire expansion in full by the end of the month, according to the post. The DLC will then be cleaned up and enhanced before being launched into a closed beta test. According to this blog post, the beta will only be open to a select group of players, making it a manageable experience. After purchasing the expansion, gamers will be able to turn it off and continue playing without it if they like.
As a bonus, the expansion is backwards compatible with Factorio’s base game, allowing players to continue playing with friends who don’t own the expansion. There will be no more bug-ridden releases from Wube; instead, the expansion pack will be released in a state that is as close to perfect as it can be. Wube is hopeful that automated testing and the limited beta will help it overcome these obstacles. It’s going to be a long wait for faithful Factorio fans, but they’ll have to keep it up for the time being.
Even while this update provides a lot of information about the expansion’s plans, it does not provide a release date for the expansion. At this point, it has not been given a name that has been made public. However, there is still some time before the DLC goes available for Factorio fans to look forward to.