As a result of the team behind Factorio feeling like it's going on for too long, they've now set a proper release date.

In their latest Friday Facts update, they mentioned how their "when it's done" approach has served them well to create a high-quality game "but if we continued this way, we would be doing it basically forever". Part of the issue is that they want to work on new features and add content, instead of constant polishing. So they're setting a date publicly now "so we have to stick with it". With that in mind, it's going to leave Early Access on September 25, 2020.

Development is not ending once they hit the big 1.0, they also don't want to say it's 100% finished either. Like a lot of games, as long as the money keeps coming in they will likely keep adding to it.

Sounds like things are going really well for the developer, Wube Software, as they've also pulled in two new team members to work on parts of their sound and graphics design.

They're also helping to sponsor the Game Developers Session 2019 conference, which is happening towards the end of the month. During it they will have two of their team doing some talks too on developing Factorio, so that could be quite interesting to watch.

Fantastic game. Love everything about it. Sure does melt away time though…

You can grab a copy of Factorio from Humble Store, GOG and Steam.