Hey warriors!
It's been a few months since we started running bi-weekly builds in our playtest. We owe you an update.
Short version: Warfactory already looks and plays very differently from what you remember.
It’s no longer trying to be a 4X with roguelite elements. Instead, we’re refocusing into a sharper automation RTS, doubling down on our main idea: building huge armies from parts and sending them into massive real-time battles.
And we need your help to get it right!
What We’ve Been Doing
After our closed alpha last December, we knew we had the right foundation. We also knew we needed to completely rethink how the game works.
(Our founder Viktor will be going deeper on the thinking behind all of this in an upcoming dev diary.)
Stretching Warfactory into 4X added complexity without making it better. Meanwhile, core parts of the game (automation and combat) lacked the depth they needed.
We made the call to strip Warfactory back to its essential idea — Automation RTS — and rebuild from there, this time with our community much more involved.
Since February, we’ve been shipping experimental builds roughly every two weeks. We test new ideas, throw out what doesn‘t land, and focus on what does.
Here's what's already changed:
The map is bigger and meaner. We overhauled map generation. Maps are now ~4x larger than what you saw in our Alpha, with impassable terrain, RTS-style fog of war, and redesigned resource distribution. You’ll actually need to scout and plan your expansion.
Enemies got scarier. Bugs no longer flood in from the edges of the map. Instead, enemy lairs are scattered at varying difficulty levels, and when the wave timer hits, they start pouring out. Bugs can also destroy your buildings now. If your main building goes down, it’s over.
Production is much more involved. Unit production time now scales with complexity: robots with different parts take longer to build. There's also a new energy system, so your machines need power to operate. Between that and the production count menu, we’re aiming to make army management feel much more deliberate.
The UI got a full makeover. We've been building a new interface inspired by early-2000s RTS skeuomorphic design (think StarCraft or Red Alert). It’s still evolving but the direction is set and we’re really happy with how it feels. You can see WIP version in the screenshots in this post.
On top of all that: a reworked tutorial, updated visuals and effects, redesigned unit models, bug fixes, and a lot of balance work across the board.
Playtesters have been telling us the new builds already feel more focused and fun. That tracks with what we’re feeling internally!
But there’s still a long way to go to make Warfactory into what we envisioned (and what you deserve).
What’s Next
We’re working toward a big moment for Warfactory and our first chance to welcome everyone in: we plan to do an open playtest sometime this summer. This will be the first time we put the new version of Warfactory in front of a much wider audience.
Before that, we’re doing several more rounds of focused closed playtesting. Each round, lasting 3-5 weeks, will be zeroing in on a specific part of the game that we want to polish.
First up: playtesting combat. April and May are all about how fighting with samurai robots feels in Warfactory. New weapons, new unit types, formation mechanics. It’s going to get explosive.
Join the Playtesting!
If you’re already in the playtest, expect new builds to continue roughly every two weeks starting next Monday (April 20). Head to your Library and look for Warfactory Playtest.
If you’re not part of the playtest yet, request access on our Steam page. We let in new players every month, and you’ll get notified when you're in.
Get Builds Early on Discord
Members of our Discord server get to play new builds before anyone else. We publish builds to our Discord-only branch on Steam roughly every other Saturday.
Discord is where most of the feedback conversations happen, where we’re most active, and where we’re posting footage from upcoming builds and how the game is changing. Come talk to us!
Join our Discord server
In addition to Discord we’re sharing footage on Twitter/X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. If you’re not up to play unstable builds, you can still follow our development journey over there.
Huge thank you to everyone who’s been testing the experimental builds over the last few months. Your feedback has shaped every one of these changes, and the game to come.
See you on the factory floor!
// Terykon Games