Abiotic Factor

Since its Early Access launch on 2 May 2024, Abiotic Factor has attracted 1.2 million players. The highly acclaimed game from Deep Field Games and Playstack has moved beyond Early Access and is available to play on PC, PS5 and Xbox. What makes this game stand out?

How did the "normal" scientists at Black Mesa feel when the Half-Life incident occurred? This is probably the starting point for Abiotic Factor. In the game, players take on the role of a scientist in an underground research facility, which has been invaded by paranormal creatures from other dimensions following a catastrophic event. The aim of the game is to survive, secure resources, build tools and weapons, and uncover the mystery of the laboratory, either alone or in co-op mode with up to six other players. However, Abiotic Factor brings a breath of fresh air to the genre with its scenario, which allows for lots of improvisation and rewarding exploration. It also focuses on science and work-life balance. Players start with various scientific roles, such as Lab Assistant, Somatic Gastrologist, Epimedical Bionomicist or Summer Intern. These roles determine their initial skills and come with a range of positive and negative traits, from First Aid Certification (+3 First Aid) and a Fanny Pack (extra hotbar slots), to Asthma (more stamina loss) and a Weak Bladder (frequent toilet visits). These traits are tailored to strengths and weaknesses in co-op, of course.

However, rather than chopping wood as in other survival games, items such as weapons and tools - essentially the entire "base" - are improvised to serve as equipment for the facility. This involves tinkering, exploring and experimenting with all kinds of DIY devices. Because the winding, multi-layered levels are built by hand, exploration is actively encouraged and richly rewarded. "Make yourself at home - you're here for the long haul. Scavenge resources from vacant offices and empty labs, raid vending machines, and steal company property to build a new base of operations as you explore the facility. When it's time for a change of scenery, pack up your belongings and move them across the facility using handcarts, forklifts, SUVs, teleporters, and more," that's how the developers describe it.

The game constantly switches between horror, humour and retro charm, and there is lots of storytelling throughout the game world. At the same time, it varies between exploration, quieter puzzle sections, crafting, combat and first-person action. While the latter is solid to good, the game's real strength lies in exploration and the constant incentives to discover new areas — especially portals to other, sometimes weird worlds — as well as new items and creative crafting. The tech trees and recipes require items found in the environment rather than simply combining raw materials. Furthermore, players are rewarded for 'human behaviour', such as eating, drinking, sleeping and using the toilet, the latter of which is a minigame (Portal Toilet). All of this sets Abiotic Factor apart from the genre, provided players can get used to the minimalist, retro graphics à la Half-Life and cope with the occasionally confusing level design.

Abiotic Factor is being developed by Deep Field Games, based in the south of New Zealand, with additional staff from around the world. This small, independent game development studio was founded by Geoff 'Zag' Keene, creator of Unfortunate Spacemen (Early Access: 2016; release: 2020). Abiotic Factor is the studio's second game. Deep Field Games specialises in "games with mood, atmosphere, and the kind of details that make players fall in love with worlds", as well as co-op gameplay. The publisher is Playstack, based in the United Kingdom. This indie game publisher is behind hits such as Balatro, Mortal Shell, and the Golden Idol series. Next up is the roguelite FPS Void/Breaker from Stubby Games.

Abiotic Factor was released on 22 July 2025 for PC (Steam), PlayStation, Xbox, PlayStation Plus Extra and Xbox Game Pass, priced at around €33.99. The 1.0 release, 'Cold Fusion', was not only the biggest update yet, but also marked the game's debut on consoles with full cross-play support across all platforms. At launch, 29,278 players were active on Steam simultaneously, which is significantly more than the 21,753 players at the Early Access launch.

Conclusion

With its evocative sci-fi horror setting, creative crafting system, and strong incentives for exploration, Abiotic Factor is a real highlight in the survival genre — and it's even better in co-op!

Features

• Excellent setting that blends horror, humour and science
• Constant, highly motivating incentives to explore
• Creative crafting System