Have you ever wanted Factorio in first-person? Enter Foundry, a first-person factory-building simulator from Crusader Kings publisher Paradox Interactive.
Developed by Channel 3 Entertainment, Foundry is pitched as a “first-person factory-building, and automation sandbox set in a beautiful, procedurally-generated voxel world". With a Factorio expansion still yet to release, Foundry has a lot of potential fans already.
In the new Foundry reveal trailer, the game’s clean voxel visuals show a more in-depth survival crafting system than you’d expect. You’ll explore a procedurally-generated environment, drill into resource drops — No Man’s Sky style — and craft extensive and elaborative factories in an FPS perspective.
Far from just conveyer belts and resource harvesting, the Foundry gameplay trailer shows automated production lines of robots, mechanical arm helpers and sprawling factories that would make a Victorian venture capitalist feint. Oh, good heavens, the means of production!
Just like any crafting game, it will take a while to reach the heights of planet-spanning production facilities. Not only will you have to research advanced manufacturing processes, but you’ll also have to learn how to connect extensive systems of pipes and power networks, trails of conveyer belts and more. Will it work as well as Factorio with its new first-person perspective?
Brilliantly, Foundry can be played either in solo mode or in online co-op with friends. If you thought building a working factory was hard on your own, just wait until others get their hands on your production facilities.
Paradox Interactive’s Foundry was initially released in an Alpha state on the indie games website Itch.IO. However, developer Patrik Meder reveals that the recent partnership with Paradox has allowed the team to “fulfill the vision and ambitions” they have for the game.
Foundry will have a demo available on Steam during the Next Fest celebrations between October 9th and October 16th. You’ll be able to find the demo here when it goes live.
There’s currently no proposed release date for the new Paradox game, but it will launch in early access on PC. No console port has been revealed at the time of writing.