Satisfactory Coffee Stain Studios pushed Satisfactory Update 1.2 to the Experimental branch on March 17, 2026. It’s the second major update since 1.0 launched in September 2024, and it’s a fairly substantial one - the headline additions are a reworked weather system (rain, wind, fog, dynamic wetness), new game mode options including randomized resource nodes, and a full rebuild of the vehicle pathfinding system. The Unreal Engine version also bumps to 5.6.1, which the devs say was partly what held up the rain reintroduction.
As with any Experimental release, Coffee Stain is treating this as a community testing phase, not a finished product. That’s worth keeping in mind before you point your main factory save at it.
How to opt in on your WinterNode server
Head to your server’s Server Options page in the control panel and set [ADVANCED] Branch Name to experimental. The server will pull the Experimental build on next startup.
Start a new game
The 1.2 Experimental build is not save-compatible with your existing 1.1 saves in any reliable way. We strongly recommend starting a fresh game rather than loading an existing one - there’s a real risk of corruption or broken saves on a build that’s still actively receiving patches. Keep your current save files backed up separately if you want to return to them.
When 1.2 hits stable and you’re ready to go back, just clear the Branch Name field or set it back to default and restart.
If you run into any issues getting the branch to switch over, open a support ticket and we’ll take a look.