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Open-World Factory Sim Satisfactory Will Finally Launch Version 1.0 This Year

Coffee Stain Studios will finally launch Satisfactory 1.0 later this year, it has announced in an update video.

Studio Community Manager Snutt Treptow laid out the 1.0 plans — along with a definitely not-fake roadmap filled with guns, fast cars, and romanceable creatures — today. There’s no release date yet, but the team is confident that there will be no more Early Access updates for players to wait through before the full factory-building experience becomes available.

As for what Satisfactory 1.0 looks like, Coffee Stain says players can expect new content, fixes for long-lasting issues, an end game and narrative, and more. As these final features are ironed out, Treptow says that there will be “next to no patches for the game until the full release.”

“Back in 2021, when we released Update 5, we sort of divided our focus into two development tracks,” he said. “One track was dedicated to the content that would go into each subsequent update, and the other was content exclusively aimed for the 1.0 release. So, our attention at the studio has sort of been divided between handling update launches with everything that comes with that and at the same time working on new content that we didn’t want to reveal until the full release of the game.”

Late last year, Coffee Stain brought these two teams together to move full steam ahead toward 1.0. Now that both branches are one, he says that it is “no longer possible for us to release any major patches in between them.” All of the work on issues big and small will be release when the Satisfactory launch build arrives, which Treptow says includes the effort put toward things like dedicated servers.

Coffee Stain says it’s still in Alpha but is close to reaching the feature-complete Beta phase. After that milestone is secured, players can expect to hear about a closed Beta test. You can sign up for this limited test now by clicking here.

Satisfactory came to Early Access on the Epic Games Store in March 2019, nearly five years ago. It’s received numerous updates since and eventually came to Steam. Development will continue after the launch build arrives, though it’s “up in the air and yet to be decided” what post-launch will look like exactly. If you need more crafting experiences to keep you busy before 1.0, be sure to check out our list of 11 games like Minecraft that are worth playing.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Neil Druckmann Teases ‘Concept’ for The Last of Us Part 3: ‘There’s Probably One More Chapter to This Story’

At the end of Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann made a surprise reveal that The Last of Us Part 3 could very well be on the way.

That’s not to say that’s a lot there at the moment – he says he merely has a “concept” in mind – but did note that there’s “probably one more chapter to this story.”

“The first game had such a clean concept of like, the unconditional love a parent feels for their child,” he said. “The second one, once we landed on this idea of the pursuit of justice at any cost, justice for the ones you love, we felt like, ‘there’s a clean concept here and there’s a throughline from the first game, about love.’ If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point. Last bite of the apple, the story’s done.”

“The great thing about working at Naughty Dog is that we don’t have to,” he added. “It’s always like, ‘we would love another Last of Us, but if you guys feel you’re passionate about something else, we’ll support this other thing.’ Very privileged position to be in, I never take that for granted. I’ve been just thinking about it, ‘is there a concept there?’ And for now years, I haven’t been able to find that concept. But recently, that’s changed, and I don’t have a story, but I do have that concept that to me is as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2, is its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”

What About the Tommy Story?

Before his comments about a potential The Last of Us Part 3, Druckmann talked about a previous interview he gave in which he mentioned they had written a story for Joel’s brother, Tommy, that takes place after the events of The Last of Us Part 2.

“The headlines across the industry were like, ‘Naughty Dog has outlined The Last of Us Part 3,’ and that’s actually wrong,” he clarified. “It was always a small story, it was never a full title. At the time, we had higher priorities at Naughty Dog to fix our pipeline, to fix work-life balance issues. Just based on where we were, I didn’t want to prioritize the story, so that story was shelved. And I still believe one day, it’ll see the light of day. I don’t know if it’ll be a game or a show, tbd.”

So, to be clear, we don’t know that Part 3 will indeed be that Tommy story, although Druckmann stressed, “I hope someday we get to make it.”

The documentary, which broadcasted on YouTube for the last couple of hours, provided an in-depth look at the making of The Last of Us Part 2. The same documentary will also be available in The Last of Us Part 2.

Grounded II comes just weeks after Naughty Dog released The Last of Us Part II: Remastered for the PS5. Aside from the base game for The Last of Us Part II, this enhanced version included additional features, including a new roguelike mode called No Return, Guitar Free Play, Lost Levels with developer commentary, graphical enhancements, DualSense integration, and the option to enable developer commentary during cutscenes for the main story.

“The Last of Us Part 2 is a masterpiece that evolves the gameplay, cinematic storytelling, and rich world design of the original in nearly every way,” we wrote in our review of The Last of Us Part 2.

Aside from the recent release of Part 2 Remastered last December, Naughty Dog announced that it had made the difficult decision to cancel The Last of Us Online, a live-service game inspired by the Factions mode in the original Last of Us game.

Beyond new game installments set in The Last of Us universe, HBO adapted the series for the small screens last year, with a second season currently in development.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Shares Hard-Fought Journey to Include One Extremely Specific Feature

A CD Projekt Red developer has shared their hard fought journey to get a very specific and utterly random feature added to Cyberpunk 2077.

Online services lead Leszek Krupiński made a lengthy post on X/Twitter to chronicle the journey of getting the “munch munch” sound added when protagonist V eats an item in the menu. This sound was already in Cyberpunk 2077 when players ate while roaming around the world, but the menu sound only arrived with its latest 2.11 update.

“This version includes a tiny thing, tiny feature I’ve poured my heart into,” Krupiński began, who explained his inspiration came from the Niezatapialni podcast which has a host who always asks for the feature.

“Yes, the lack of this was an omission, but I dunno if it wasn’t noticed, or the priority was low, so it was never added,” Krupiński continued. “I decided to do something about it. It was way out of my scope of work, but I started asking around. I talked to producers and release managers if it’s not too late to add any new features (it was after 2.0 was released), but they didn’t say ‘no’ instantly, so there was a chance.

“I put on a producer hat and started discussions with sound designers and the UI team. And this week I’ve installed the patch, and there it is. My most meaningful impact on Cyberpunk 2077: when you eat stuff in the inventory, you hear ‘munch munch’. I can die in peace now.”

Update 2.11 also addressed myriad bugs and balance issues in the open-world role-playing game. Melee finishers, dashes turning into crouches, and wrongly upgrading items have all been fixed among other issues. CD Projekt Red has also adjusted the frequency of car chases, stopped completed gigs remaining incomplete on the map, and addressed a bug where players couldn’t sleep during the quest I Really Want to Stay at Your House.

It came after the game changing Update 2.0, which completely revamped Cyberpunk 2077 with features such as a new perk system and improved AI and also brought closure to an Elon Musk fan theory, a reference to the late racing legend Ken Block, and bizarre additions to the game’s biggest mystery. Update 2.1 later added a full metro system, romantic partner hangouts, new vehicles, and more.

In our 9/10 review of the game, IGN said: “Cyberpunk 2077 throws you into a beautiful, dense cityscape and offers a staggering amount of flexibility in how you choose to take it from there.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

How Long Is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?

Traditionally, Rocksteady’s past Batman titles clocked in anywhere between 10 to 16 hours, but with Suicide Squad departing from the studio’s usual single-player traditions, for a live-service co-op experience, you might be left wondering “Just how long is it”? Here we’ll let you know how long it took different IGN team members to finish their adventure to Kill The Justice League, and what they prioritised during their time.

How long is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?

  • Our fastest player finished it in just under 8 hours.
  • Our “slowest” player completed it in 20 hours.

Every player is different, and as you read on, you’ll get more details about how each of us played, how quickly we got to the credits, and what we focused on or ignored as we stomped through Metropolis. Finished the game for yourself already? Make sure to visit How Long To Beat to find out how your time compares to ours, or others!

Simon Cardy – Senior Editorial Producer

It took me between 10 and 11 hours to finish Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s main story. I pretty much mainlined it, completing around five or six support squad missions along the way just to make sure I was unlocking all of the basic abilities and crafting opportunities I’d need to take on Earth’s mightiest heroes. I never once felt underpowered, though, despite Amanda Waller warning me before each battle that I might want to level up a bit.

In fact, the only thing that really slowed me down was occasional server issues, that annoyingly happened multiple times during one boss battle, meaning I had to replay it several times. I’ve since spent another 10 or so hours engaging in some of the open-world activities such as Riddler puzzles and challenges, postgame Incursion missions, and grinding up my Captain Boomerang to gift him a full collection of Bane-themed weaponry. After 15 or so hours in total, however, I really did feel like I’d seen everything that Suicide Squad has to offer at this point.

Jesse Gomez – UK Video Producer

My playthrough was just shy of eight hours, all whilst playing on the default difficulty. My primary goal? To complete Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League in the fastest time possible, with just my AI companions to back me up. Throughout my time in Metropolis, I ignored all of the extra side-missions, dodged most of the enemy street encounters while making my way to missions and The Hall of Justice, plus, I avoided all of those pesky Riddler collectibles and challenges.

This resulted in a couple of the Justice League boss battles taking a little longer than expected, as I wasn’t packing enough extra firepower to take them down as quickly as I would’ve wanted. If I were to do it again, it certainly would’ve helped to explore the other challenges dotted across the map, and upgrade another character beside my main, Captain Boomerang, but after the six hour mark I felt confident enough in my playstyle to blast through the rest of the story.

Mitchell Saltzman – Senior Guides Producer

According to my game clock, I spent about 20 hours with Suicide Squad before hitting credits. I wasn’t aiming to be a completionist, and opted against doing much hunting for the Riddler trophies, but I did want to try and make sure that I completed new Support Squad missions whenever they popped up, as those side activities come with rewards that directly impact gameplay.

As a result I unlocked plenty of legendary crafting recipes, contract slots, vehicle upgrades, afflictions, and got tons and tons of crafting materials. I will say though, that if it was not for having to cover this game from a guides perspective, I don’t think the quality of the side missions, nor their rewards, would have compelled me to try and complete them all, which would’ve made my playtime dramatically shorter.

Destin Legarie – Director Video Content Strategy

Because I was capturing the entirety of my playthrough I can tell you that I completed the campaign in exactly 10 hours and 4 minutes. This included taking my time to interact with all the exhibits in the Museum, Hall of Justice, and even taking time to meander around the Daily Planet to see if I could spot any fun easter eggs. The 10 hour time also included a boss fight that I failed after taking a woefully under geared character into battle.

I wouldn’t say that this was rushing through the campaign, but the combat encounters and escort missions felt extremely easy to clear with my main Suicide Squad member Deadshot.

Want to see play our DC and Marvel Superheroes Face-Off? Vote on, and compare your personal results with the IGN community!

Sega Gives Itself a Cheeky Pat on the Back in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Spoiler Warning: The following article includes minor spoilers for side content in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

Publisher Sega gives itself a cheeky pat on the back in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth as the game’s protagonist praises the amazing games its produced over the years.

The Yakuza/Like a Dragon series is largely set in Japan and aims to replicate real world locations, and one way it does so is by including genuine Sega arcades where players can essentially emulate other games.

These typically match the era they released in. Yakuza 0 takes place in 1988, for example, so includes Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone, Out Run, and more. Upon entering a retro arcade in Infinite Wealth, longtime protagonist Kiryu Kazuma (who’s one of the two main playable characters in this latest entry), reminisces over his time spent in these arcades, praising Sega as he goes.

“Looks like an old-fashioned arcade. Guess it’s what the kids would call ‘retro’,” Kiryu says. “I used to frequent arcades like this back in the day. Had lots of fun playing games there.

“The folks behind all these games must be incredibly creative and unique. Come to think of it, most of what I played were from a company called Sega. They always seemed to innovate with every new game they put out. And with a lineup like theirs, I’m sure they’ll be around for years to come.”

The publisher and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio weren’t afraid to poke fun at themselves too though. In another string of side content players will meet Robo Michio, a robotic version of a Hiroshima mascot introduced in Yakuza 6, who pokes fun at the Sega Game Gear.

The 1991 portable was infamous for having low battery life, and Robo Michio compares it to himself as he explains his lack of power. “Are you familiar with the Game Gear?” he asks. “Many have deemed its battery life and my own abominably similar.”

Sega found both critical and commercial success with Infinite Wealth, which is the series’ fastest-selling game to date and has surpassed one million copies sold in its first week.

It features the Yakuza series’ biggest map to date, lets players become a samurai, surfer, and housekeeper, includes the series’ most infamous character, and has an entire Pokémon game inside it.

Sega has caused some frustration, however, as Infinite Wealth’s New Game Plus mode is exclusive to the Deluxe and Ultimate versions of the game, which come in at $15 and $40 more expensive respectfully.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “Sprawling, enthralling, and packed with dynamic brawling, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth isn’t just the best turn-based Like a Dragon game, it’s one of the greatest games in the entire series.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

IGN UK Podcast 734: Suicide Squad and Dale’s Big Plane Story

Cardy and Jesse have played Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and both equally share their disappointment. Dale has been on a WWE adventure which resulted in a strange plane story, and all three boys have some strong thoughts on Sony’s recent State of Play, especially that mad 9 minutes of Death Stranding 2 On the Beach.

Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 734: Suicide Squad and Dale’s Big Plane Story

Tencent Reportedly Killed an Unannounced Nier Mobile Game

Following news that Nier mobile game Nier Reincarnation shuts down in April, publisher Tencent has reportedly cancelled an unannounced Nier mobile game that was in development for nearly two years.

As reported by Reuters, Tencent “halted development” of the mystery mobile game in December 2023, “marking a setback in the Chinese gaming giant’s hunt for new hits”.

Tencent reportedly failed to work out a “compelling” monetisation model given the “expensive” development costs and franchise rights (which Square Enix owns). IGN has asked Square Enix for comment.

Blockbuster hit Nier: Automata is approaching its seventh birthday with no new mainline game announced so far. Square Enix producer Yosuke Saito said in November 2023 that while Nier chief Yoko Taro is alive, another entry in the Nier series will be released at some point.

Action role playing game Nier: Automata launched in 2017 and wowed critics and fans with its vast locations and zany combat. It was a surprise breakout hit for Square Enix and went on to sell an impressive 7.5 million copies. There have been many crossover events since, plus Nier-related promotions, a remaster of the first game, and even a Nier anime.

As for Tencent, recent rumblings suggest all is not well with the company’s gaming effort. Reuters reported in January 2024 that Tencent Chairman Pony Ma said the company’s gaming business, which accounts for more than 30% of revenue, was under threat because some of its recent games had fallen short of expectations.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Almost Had a Glitch From Insomniac’s Miles Morales

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse almost made a popular glitch from Insomniac’s Miles Morales game canon.

During the latest episode of Sony’s Creator to Creator series, makers of the animated movie and the video game chatted about their work on all things Spider-Man.

“[There were] people on our crew that were like, playing your game while they were working on the film,” said Across the Spider-Verse director Joaquim Dos Santos. “We almost put one of your guys’ glitches that made it into… Like, we almost put a heater, like a space heater, swinging through.”

Bryan Intihar, senior creative director of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, acknowledged the glitch came from 2020’s Miles Morales before mentioning Spider-Man 2’s infamous Spider-Cube bug. “Well, there’s a cube one in this game, so we fixed that,” he said.

“I think the fact that we had a crew member that brought that up and said, ‘What about if there’s like a space heater?’ Like that’s true love,” Dos Santos continued.

Miles Morales’ patio heater glitch, dubbed Spider-Lamp, did the rounds on social media back in 2020, with fans naturally finding it hilarious.

Spider-Lamp was but one of several Miles Morales glitches IGN covered at the time, with the likes of Spider-Trash and Spider-Brick also taking to the streets of New York City. Back then, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse producer Phil Lord noticed Spider-Lamp and even threatened to put it in the movie, much to Insomniac’s embarrassment.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse includes a ton of references already so perhaps there just wasn’t enough room or time to squeeze in Miles Morales’ Spider-Lamp.

A third film, Beyond the Spider-Verse, is currently in the works but doesn’t have a release date. Glitches from Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 could therefore make it into this one, or perhaps from other incoming Marvel games from the studio, which is also working on New Game Plus for Spider-Man 2.

Image credit: Sony

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Sells 1 Million Copies

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has become the Yakuza series’ fastest-selling game to date, passing one million units sold within its first week on sale.

Publisher Sega and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are celebrating by giving players some free downloadable content too. The Celebratory T-Shirt Set will be released “at a later date”, with Sega advising fans pay attention to its social media channels to learn when the pack will be available.

It’s also unclear what the pack entails, but Infinite Wealth leans into the ability to change characters’ outfits in battle, and goes even further in the post game, so Ichiban, Kiryu, and the team will likely be able to don a ridiculous looking t-shirt in battle and elsewhere.

Infinite Wealth arrived January 26 as the eighth mainline entry in the Yakuza (renamed Like a Dragon) series, but as a direct sequel to its somewhat reset Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It continues that game’s story and turn-based combat, though brought in some classic Yakuza influence by featuring longtime protagonist Kiryu alongside newcomer Ichiban in dual protagonist roles.

It also features the Yakuza series’ biggest map to date, lets players become a samurai, surfer, and housekeeper, features the series’ most infamous character, and has an entire Pokémon game inside it.

Publisher Sega has caused some frustration, however, as Infinite Wealth’s New Game Plus mode is exclusive to the Deluxe and Ultimate versions of the game, which come in at $15 and $40 more expensive respectfully.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “Sprawling, enthralling, and packed with dynamic brawling, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth isn’t just the best turn-based Like a Dragon game, it’s one of the greatest games in the entire series.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Avowed Developers Confirm Game Has Multiple Endings: ‘It’s an Obsidian Game’

During the recent Xbox Developer Direct, we were treated to a deeper look at how Obsidian’s upcoming RPG, Avowed, will handle player choice via a close look at a certain sidequest. But that left us wondering: what’s the natural endpoint of a game emphasizing choice? Will Avowed have multiple endings?

I was able to learn the answer to that by speaking to game director Carrie Patel not long after the direct, where she confirmed that yes, Avowed will indeed have multiple endings. Obviously! “I mean it’s an Obsidian game,” she said. “What else would we be if we didn’t have a few different endings?”

Patel didn’t specify further about how many endings there would be or how different they would be from one another, but we did talk further about how player choice could be expressed in the game, and how players will experience it. Patel tells me that it’s not just about pushing dominos – one event happens somewhere every time the player does something. What matters more is player expression, and how the player understands and interprets the world reacting to them, especially in a game where parts of the world are open and players may not see every single reaction or interaction.

“You have to approach it with a degree of range, both in the spread and placement of those consequences and also the nature of those consequences,” she says. “Some things need to have surprising but believable outcomes. If everything plays out exactly as you expect, it could feel a little boring. And at the same time, not every quest needs to have world-ending consequences. Some absolutely do have huge impacts for the characters in the world around you, but sometimes the story you’re experiencing is just a very deeply personal one for the characters involved. And that’s okay too.

“I think the great thing about RPGs is there’s a lot of room for that spread in terms of the tone and type and scope and nature of content. And so you’re giving players a big world where they can find a lot of very different experiences that all sort of add up to their experience as the protagonist of this game.”

It won’t be much longer before we’ll get to see exactly what choices Obsidian has in store, as Avowed got a 2024 release window recently. It was first teased back in 2020 with more footage shown at a 2023 Xbox showcase. We also spoke to Patel about why Avowed is foregoing romances to focus on different kinds of companion relationships, and why players can only pick an elf or a human in the character creator.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.