In the four months since it left Early Access, Satisfactory has sprawled across the hearts of players. Over a hundred streams in December were dedicated to the first Pass It On community competition after the game’s 1.0 release in a massive celebration of the kind of creativity unique to base-building games. From Portal-style test chambers to moving snakes, the competition showed what Satisfactory builders are capable of.
Game Rant spoke to Satisfactory community managers Snutt Treptow and Mikael Niazi about the way the game has been received and about why it’s such a great canvas for the kind of creativity shown in the Pass It On events.
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Building Big in Satisfactory
Initially, Satisfactory wasn’t going to be that exciting from a creative perspective. It had plans to focus more on things like combat and a more cartoony approach to growing the factory, Treptow told Game Rant last September. But as the Early Access progressed, the interests of the game’s players became clearer and Coffee Stain Studios was responsive to what the players were looking for.
Things really opened up with Update Five, which introduced more customization as well as pillars and beams, which were revolutionary additions for Satisfactory‘s creative players. Not only did this update lead to the ability to build things like the Eiffel Tower, but they literally changed the game for Pass It On. Initially, the idea for the competition – which has run eight times in the past two and a half years – was to give content creators a save file for two hours and hand it off to another as part of a relay to complete the game. After Update Five, that changed to what it is today: a chance for creators to work together two hours at a time on creative builds. Treptow was the first creator to take part in Pass It On and is still awed by how creative the community has become:
“Honestly, I didn’t think Satisfactory would be such a good game for this kind of creativity. For sure, it is a sandbox game with a lot of possibilities for creative building, but it’s first and foremost a factory building game and the build pieces you have are somewhat limited compared to a lot of other sandbox games. This makes it extra exciting for me to see just how far folks are able to take it! … It’s so cool to see our community organize events like these. It sort of takes this thing we created and makes it come alive in ways we didn’t expect, and I hope to see more in the future!”
And they take it far. Factories that move, cathedrals, and even tributes to SpongeBob SquarePants are created routinely by the community. Every creator that gets involved in Pass It On, regardless of playtime or expertise, gives it their all and contributes to works of art built in a game that Treptow still can’t believe can carry that kind of expressiveness.
However, Niazi points out that it isn’t like Satisfactory isn’t conducive to these kinds of creative enterprises. Throughout Early Access, Coffee Stain fine-tuned the experience to what the players wanted from the game. And, of course, there are features in the game that many other sandbox base builders would consider cheating.
“Options that could be considered cheats such as god mode, passive creatures, no build cost etc., are included in Satisfactory so that players can embrace playing exactly the way they want to because there is no wrong way to play. I can’t recall many games giving you such leeway to break much of their innate balancing. Of course, I’ll never understand what makes the people who build logistical, functional, and productive mega or even giga factories without these settings tick!”
Being able to do things that allow for greater flexibility and freedom without requiring glitches, mods, cheats, or other workarounds help foster the success Satisfactory has seen since its launch.
A More than Satisfactory Launch
Niazi still struggles to believe just how massive the response to the 1.0 release was on Steam and Epic, saying the experience was humbling for him. Despite that, it also felt like a natural evolution for Satisfactory, one he’s looking forward to seeing unfold as Coffee Stain continues to develop the game.
After he took part in the December Pass It On event, he’s also thrilled to see that response to the game’s launch continue forward throughout the game’s community. For him, that’s the most critical part of a game’s success.
“I’m incredibly proud of and grateful for the Satisfactory community for being as open-minded, welcoming, and fun as they are. Events like Pass It On and others right next to it are the culmination and manifestation of how the community wants to come together and share something they love dearly. I’m reminding myself constantly to not take this passion for granted, and I want to thank each and every player for breathing life into Satisfactory.”
Players interested in coming together with the Pass It On community can keep an eye on the event’s website, with the next event expected in March or April. Pass It On is also setting sights on Coffee Stain’s other base-building sensation Valheim, with more information on the first Valheim Pass It On to come.
- Released
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September 10, 2024
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+
- Publisher(s)
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Coffee Stain Publishing
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