Manufacturing unit-building sport Factorio has offered 3.5 million copies, stories developer Wube Software program in its year-end replace. It is an unbelievable validation of success for a sport that may politely be described as of area of interest curiosity to mainstream gaming.
“This yr we have now reached one other gross sales milestone, with 3.5 million gross sales being handed this Christmas. We’re nonetheless having regular and constant gross sales of about 500,000 annually, which on reflection validates the unique no-sale coverage we have now caught with since we launched on Steam in 2016,” mentioned Wube in a weblog submit (opens in new tab).
The identical submit consists of an growth teaser picture, a number of small growth updates, and a statistics recap on Wube’s mod portal characteristic. Wube Software program additionally introduced that it is nonetheless onerous at work porting the sport’s new console controls (opens in new tab) to the PC model for each individuals on full-size rigs and on cell PCs just like the Steam Deck.
Alongside the announcement, Wube Software program additionally posted a scant teaser for the Factorio Growth. A “Christmas postcard” made by the studio consists of “a sneak peek of some new merchandise icons.” What’s the brand new stuff? No positive factor in a sport that features applied sciences as various as wood-burning steam engines, petroleum chemical refining, and nuclear fission, however I will speculate anyway.
Dealing with sizzling, liquid metals is not a factor in Factorio, however that pink icon appears to be like lots like a blast furnace of some variety, and it is actively pouring red-hot liquid. Alongside that could be a sealed chamber that may be used for vaccum processes, and a spherical meeting in a bigger machine crackling with electrical energy that to me bears greater than a passing resemblance to theorized Fusion reactor containment.
After the final teaser (opens in new tab), quite a lot of followers have speculated that the creature proven should be aquatic in a roundabout way, and so the growth should contain exploring (and exploiting) the seas of Factorio’s planet.
For those who’re a hardcore Factorio-head, or a sport modding fanatic, go try the complete submit (opens in new tab) for a take a look at the statistics, together with the slightly surprising revelation that greater than 25% of Factorio mods have 2,000 or extra downloads.