Satisfactory is a factory simulation game created by Coffee Stain Studios. It is available for Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation. In the game, the player, called a "pioneer," is placed on an alien planet with a few tools. The pioneer must use the planet's natural resources to build increasingly complex factories. The first goal is to construct a space elevator, which allows the pioneer to send supplies to FICSIT Inc., the megacorp the player works for. These supplies include parts for unknown but stated to be important purposes. Sending these parts unlocks access to new technology, which enables the use of advanced machines to produce the next set of parts for FICSIT.

Satisfactory was released in early access on March 19, 2019. By January 2024, the game had sold over 5.5 million copies. The full version of the game was released for PC on September 10, 2024. It was later released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 4, 2025.

Gameplay

Satisfactory is played from the player's perspective and includes working with others online. You take the role of a FICSIT Pioneer sent to a planet rich in resources to gather and process materials. You must build an automated factory and necessary structures. The main goal is to produce large amounts of Project Assembly parts, which are sent to FICSIT using a space elevator. You begin on a pre-made map in one of four starting areas and need to explore on foot or by vehicle to find resources and discover unknown areas on your map. FICSIT helps you progress through different levels, each requiring you to gather resources and make specific items. Completing each level unlocks new tools, designs, and technologies, allowing you to grow and improve your factory. As you advance, using automated systems becomes necessary to create the large quantities of complex items FICSIT requires. Conveyor belts, pipelines, and vehicles are introduced at different stages and are used to move resources and parts. You must also create and improve a power system to operate your factory, which requires making or collecting materials that generate power.

Plot

The player character, an unnamed female FICSIT employee called a Pioneer, is sent from orbit to the surface of MASSAGE-2(AB)b using a drop pod controlled by FICSIT's AI, ADA. A mysterious message disrupts the pod's landing. Although all the pod's parachutes fail, the Pioneer lands safely, one of the few Pioneers in the area to do so. The Pioneer has no memories, a condition ADA explains as retrograde amnesia. After completing a training program to regain knowledge, the Pioneer builds the HUB, her home base. She then constructs a space elevator to begin what ADA calls "Project Assembly." ADA later explains that this project is part of a larger plan called the Save the Day Program, designed to save Earth. While the reason Earth is in danger is not fully explained, it is implied to be caused by corporations harming the environment for profit, making Earth less livable.

The Pioneer discovers mysterious alien objects called Mercer Spheres and Somersloops, which advance a secondary story involving a nameless alien intelligence that tries to communicate with the Pioneer through telepathy. At first, ADA believes the unusual brainwaves from collecting the artifacts are signs of brain damage. Later, ADA realizes the signals are an attempt to communicate and uses the Pioneer as a way to connect with the alien. ADA gradually understands the alien's confusing messages, and the alien helps create a special storage system called the Dimensional Depot. This system transfers materials between the alien's dimension and the Pioneer's world using a dimensional rift the alien calls a "window." The alien suggests changing the rift into a "door," but ADA warns it could be dangerous for the Pioneer. If enough artifacts are collected, ADA learns to communicate directly with the alien without the Pioneer, and the alien stops speaking to the player.

After completing all phases of Project Assembly, the Pioneer learns that the project involves building a starship using the elevator's orbital platform. The Pioneer helps launch the ship, which activates its warp drive to leave the star system. ADA travels with the ship but leaves a copy of herself behind on the planet. She also promotes the Pioneer, suggesting their future work with FICSIT continues.

Development and release

Satisfactory was first announced at E3 2018. In mid-2018, Coffee Stain Studios tested the game in a closed alpha. They later released it in open early access in March 2019, which was only available on the Epic Games Store for a year. The game was originally built using Unreal Engine 4 because the studio had experience with it from previous games, Sanctum and Goat Simulator. By November 2023, Coffee Stain moved the game to Unreal Engine 5. This update improved performance, stability, and included new lighting, vehicle and sound features, as well as more detailed keyboard shortcuts. The game's world was not created automatically but was instead made by hand, featuring several biomes covering about 30 square kilometers (12 miles). This map is much larger than the open worlds in Coffee Stain’s earlier games.

Satisfactory officially left early access on September 10, 2024, for PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store. This release included changes to the placement of resource nodes and recipe costs, along with game optimizations and improvements for multiplayer servers.

Reception

The game Satisfactory received "universal acclaim" from critics, as reported by the review aggregator Metacritic.

The website Rock Paper Shotgun compared the building system in Satisfactory to the game Factorio, developed by Wube Software.

Within three months of its early-access release, more than 500,000 copies of the game had been sold. By July 2020, sales reached over 1.3 million copies, and by January 2024, sales had grown to 5.5 million copies. According to data collected by Simon Carless in mid-2021, Satisfactory had generated at least US$11.5 million in revenue, exceeding the minimum payout guarantee set by Epic Games for Coffee Stain.

In 2024, Satisfactory was named the PC Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.