MicroProse and solo developer Chett Fitzgerald have released Factory Default: Build, Trade, Repeat in Steam Early Access. The management game covers global logistics, shifting markets and an industrial path that eventually reaches the Moon.
Factory Default: Build, Trade, Repeat is now available in Early Access on Steam. Players take control of an industrial conglomerate with supply chains that span Earth and are meant to move beyond it. MicroProse and solo developer Chett Fitzgerald launched the management simulation with a new Early Access Launch Trailer. It shows the game's central loop: extract resources, build production networks, move goods between regions and turn a large operation into a profitable corporation.
The Steam listing gives the release date as September 29, 2026. Available Steam results show September 28 or 29, depending on the localized page. The difference may come from regional date formats or release timing, so the Steam page is still the clearest public reference for the launch date. Available search results did not produce independent confirmation from major media or a separate official press release. They also did not provide verifiable statements from Fitzgerald or MicroProse beyond the public store presence.
Industry without conveyor belts
The game's main choice is where it puts the player's attention. Factory Default does not require players to lay every conveyor belt by hand. Instead, they make decisions about locations, manufacturing priorities, transport routes and supplier relationships. Raw materials can be mined or farmed. They can then be refined into more advanced components and assembled into finished products before being shipped around the world to meet demand.
That gives the simulation a wider scope than a standard factory builder. Players coordinate a connected network instead of perfecting one production floor. Trucks, trains, ships and aircraft link industrial sites. Routes can be changed, cargo can be mixed and fleets can be managed as the company grows.
The world map includes more than 100 regions based on real-world countries, economic unions, geography and resource distribution. The simulation also includes hundreds of resources and products. Together, they create a long chain of dependencies that runs from basic commodities to advanced technology.
Markets shape the corporation
Factory Default does not measure success by profit alone. Corporate policies, wages, benefits, staffing, efficiency, contracts, research and financial health all affect the company. Players can also build up Influence and choose how aggressively to use corporate power while managing environmental impact and global perception.
The economy is designed to keep moving. Trading activity and outside events can change market conditions. Strikes, embargoes, economic booms, disasters and technological breakthroughs are among the pressures that can disrupt an efficient plan. Logistics therefore has a direct financial effect. A route or supplier arrangement that works in one market may become a liability after conditions change.
For players who like management games built around complex systems, the appeal is clear. Factory Default is not a fixed puzzle with one ideal production line. It creates a framework where resource availability, transport decisions and corporate policy keep affecting one another. The Early Access launch puts that framework in players' hands. Future updates are planned to add industries, technologies and logistical challenges on the way to version 1.0.
Available Steam search material should not be used to assign broader genre labels or extra setting details to this game without checking the direct Factory Default listing. One result associated with simulation, management, economy and post-apocalyptic tags refers to another Steam title. It does not independently confirm those classifications for Factory Default.
From Earth to the Moon
The game's long-term plan is built around the Ultima Mundi Project. Its planned engineering projects start with reshaping Earth. They then move toward a Space Elevator and Space Station before opening lunar industry and off-world logistics. These projects are part of the announced structure of the simulation. The launch material does not give a delivery schedule for the later celestial systems.
That matters in Early Access. The Steam release gives players the current management simulation, but the full scope of its Earthbound and lunar plans will depend on updates that have not arrived. The available information confirms the direction of development. It does not show how complete every planned stage will be at launch.
The launch also includes 125 Steam Achievements. They cover production, trade, finance, contracts, research, Influence, markets and story progression. Their range matches the game's intended breadth, but achievements alone cannot show how deep each system is or how much content remains to be added.
What players receive
Factory Default: Build, Trade, Repeat is available now on Steam in Early Access. No other platform is confirmed in the supplied announcement. MicroProse is the publisher, and Chett Fitzgerald is the developer. The announcement does not give a price, PC requirements or performance targets. Those purchasing questions cannot be assessed from the launch information alone.
The Early Access Launch Trailer presents the game's intended scale. It moves from resource extraction and production chains to worldwide trade and space-focused industry. It is promotional launch footage, not independent testing. It does not establish final performance, long-term stability or the completeness of the planned lunar economy.
Factory Default enters a crowded management-simulation market. Its success will depend on how clearly its systems work together. The real-world map, automated large-scale logistics and corporate consequences give the project a clear identity. Early Access leaves the burden of proof to future updates. Readers interested in supply chains should treat the game as a substantial playable foundation, not a finished industrial epic. That is a more useful starting point than the broad management promise seen in another shop sim.
Early Access means the game is playable but still in development. It is not the final version. That distinction matters here because the announced design runs from regional extraction and manufacturing to space infrastructure and lunar logistics. The current Steam build can be judged by the systems it offers now. Its later stages remain planned content, not delivered evidence. Factory Default may appeal to players who want to help shape a large supply-chain simulation, but it does not yet offer a final verdict on the complete Earth-to-Moon concept.
For now, Steam is the main authoritative public source for the release listing and date. Additional search results contain only indirect references. They do not provide independently verifiable quotations or development background from the project's creators. That limited evidence makes it important to separate the features announced for Factory Default from details that belong to other similarly tagged simulation games.
