Factorio 2.1 is now out for all players as a free update. It's also the last major update the developer plans for the game.
Wube Software, the Prague-based studio behind Factorio, released it on October 23, 2026. That's two years after Factorio: Space Age, the big expansion that sent players to new planets since October 21, 2024.
Version 2.1 adds no new planets, enemies or research trees. Wube describes it as a big bundle of quality-of-life changes, small features and polish, plus things the team wanted in 2.0 but ran out of time.
Space platforms get the most changes
Space platforms are the core of Space Age, and 2.1 makes them easier to supply. Rockets can now carry several different items in one launch, so players no longer have to send a full load of each item just to build a small platform. Platforms can also request items from other platforms in orbit and send items to them.
Ship design gets more freedom, too. Drag now depends on a platform's mass rather than its width, so long, thin "pencil ships" are no longer the only way to go fast.
On the ground, a new unloading bay for the landing pad lets players move incoming cargo straight onto trains and belts or into chests.
Quality is now optional
Quality, the Space Age system that lets players make much stronger versions of buildings and items, can now be switched off. It stays enabled by default, but Space Age no longer requires it.
Changes across the whole game
Some older annoyances are gone. Pipes carrying different fluids no longer merge by accident, and the game shows now a warning. The biters, the insect-like aliens that attack the factory, now expand in larger groups as they evolve.
Several buildings also have new artwork, including assembling machines, the oil refinery and the rocket silo, and space platforms now show planets in the background. Players who wire up their factories with in-game logic circuits get a long list of new options, which Wube explains in its circuit network overview.
Before updating
Saves from 2.0 load in 2.1, but some changes can break existing factory designs. Saves and blueprints can't go back to 2.0 after updating, so the studio recommends backing up anything important. Most popular mods were updated during the test phase, though some may not be ready yet.
After 2.1?
After 2.1, there plan is to move Factorio into long-term support, with bug fixes, platform support and modding features in place of new gameplay. Ending on polish rather than one more planet feels like the right call for a game its developers say isn't missing anything major. We are looking forward to seeing what their next plan is, and whether they are already working on a new game.
