Factorio Devs Put the Entire Industry on Blast With a FREE Switch 2 Upgrade

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Written By NLM Team

Leave it to the Factorio devs to make everyone else look greedy.

A dense, late-game Factorio factory screenshot showing rows of nuclear reactors, steam turbines, and assembly machines surrounding a central Rocket Silo.

The developers at Wube Software just laid out their plans for the new Nintendo Switch 2, and it's the most refreshing, pro-consumer move I've seen in this new console generation. They're releasing a Factorio - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition... and the upgrade is completely free for everyone who owns the original Switch version.

I had to read that twice. Free.

A Middle Finger to "Remastered" Cash Grabs

While every other publisher is figuring out how to charge us $10 or $20 for a 4K patch, the Wube team just said the quiet part out loud: "We don't believe paying for a technical upgrade is reasonable".

That is a glorious, direct shot at the entire industry. They're basically telling everyone else to get bent, and I am so here for it.

So, what does this free upgrade get you? It's not just a simple patch. We're talking a jump from 720p to native 1080p in handheld mode, and support for up to 4K (2160p) when docked. They're also adding Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support, higher-res sprites and animations, faster loading, and the ability to build much larger bases.

They apparently had a hell of a time getting 4K to run at 60FPS, but they managed to optimize it without gutting the visuals.

The Factory Must Expand (to Space)

Now, here's the real news, and it's where they should be making their money. Factorio: Space Age is officially coming to the Switch 2 as a $35 DLC.

This is the whole reason the tech upgrade matters. The original Switch just didn't have the RAM or CPU power to handle the expansion's "5 planets worth of bases". The Switch 2, however, is good to go.

This is how it's done. A free upgrade for the base game's performance, and a paid, massive expansion that was impossible on the old hardware.

How About That... Joy-Con Mouse?

In a weird little extra, they're also adding "Mouse mode support". This uses the Joy-Con's Mouse Sensor to let you use it as a cursor for placing buildings and navigating menus.

I'll be honest, this sounds janky as hell. The dev, Twinsen, even admits it was "unreliable" when trying to auto-detect it, so you have to manually enable it in the settings. It's not a keyboard replacement, but it's a bizarre and interesting addition.

So, When Can I lose My Life to It?

Here's the Factorio part. The release date for both the free upgrade and the Space Age DLC is... "as soon as possible".

In normal human terms, this means "it's done when it's done, and we're at the mercy of Nintendo's certification process". They are aiming for a December release, hoping to get it out as a "nice gift before Christmas," but they're not promising it.

This whole announcement is just classic Wube. They spent a year celebrating Space Age's 1 million sales on PC, quietly got the game running on new hardware, and then announced it with a free upgrade that shames every other major publisher. The factory grows, and it's not gouging us to do it.

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NLM Team
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