Satisfactory 1.0 launched in September 2024, 2 years ago. 1.1 came out which focused mostly on QoL items, including improvements on fluids and transport. I’ve done a couple playthroughs now, and do consider the game to be relatively feature complete at this point. Surprisingly, there’s a DLC announced – Core Values.

In some of the news circles, the devs have tried to explain the thinking here. If you compare to Factorio, it’s pretty obvious that the two options are a) find another physical location (Space Age) or b) rebuild the entire production chain (Krastorio). Quite a few logistic games have tried the cave construct, which comes with caveats.

• Size. The factory must grow, and games that are architected around tight builds can generally work in confined areas. Games that are built on the concept of size/scale, the size of a location is a major factor. Factorio put temporary limits on land mass size, which you eventually could compensate. Foundry has elevators and caves, which are a right PITA to manage, but generally have ample space to collect items, just not process them. Satisfactory has no real size limits currently, with a very large focus on 3D builds. Very curious as to how this will work.
• Logistics. How factories work has been optimized, any new location needs some new logistic tweaks. Satisfactory has horrendous liquid mechanics, so I do hope they don’t mess up there. Driving vehicles are better than before, but still very rough due to clipping. Trains work very well, but need insane space to work. Drones are ideal options in many cases, but obviously won’t work the same way in caves. Belts are apparently going to be tweaked. I’d gather there’s some limiting factor here with a new transport mechanic required.
• Production Chains. The current game has you producing teleportation and quantum power. I’m not quite sure what could come on top of that, but there certainly is an option for some mid-game changes, which begs the question ‘At what point does the expansion take place?’. I’m sure there’s some integration with max-level factories, but is this something that goes into Tier 2 production? Will it impact that construct?
• Space Elevator. The game is wrapped around the concept of shipping things to space, not sure a space elevator works underground. So does production require shipping between surface/caves, or is it a separate system? I’d certainly assume the former.

I do think this is an odd choice of DLC, likely limited by the game engine. I mean, the whole point is to build a space ship after all, and you do that. It would seem a potential option to unlock other planets or locations, rather than a space-limited construct. And space-limited with a game engine that does NOT support a destructible world.

This does pique my interest, as Coffee Stain has a good track record on building cool things and integrating player feedback. And really, Satisfactory is a top-tier option in the logistics space. More of that is certainly a good thing!