I'm here today to announce a dire portent. An issue that may or may not be disastrous for modern technological society. The Factorio: Space Age expansion is doing very, very well. After peaking at a record-setting 91,801 players on launch week, this weekend we've hit 118,674 players—more than triple the total we saw when Factorio launched its 1.0 release in 2020. This most illustrious of factory-building games is like catnip for engineers, coders, systems administrators, process designers, IT personnel, and also me.
Sure, it's the weekend now and that's responsible for the spike in peak player count... but what happens when their minds turn to The Factory, And How It Must Grow come Monday morning when they're supposed to be working? In a year already overrun with good factory games—surely hindering their productivity to date—we are seeing yet another monumenal release. I fear we shan't survive.
