The short version

  • Scrap Mechanic 1.0 launched July 24, 2026, ending exactly 10 years in Steam Early Access
  • Developer: Axolot Games
  • 1.0 adds a full story line, a reworked world, a new area, new enemies, new building parts, new cosmetics, and improved visuals
  • A second story chapter, Drilling Thunder, adds an abandoned mine, caves, drill vehicle attachments, and a route to the planet’s core
  • New price: $28.99 — but the update is free for existing owners
  • Creative worlds should survive the transition; survival saves only work if you roll back to the previous version
  • Many mods will break until their creators update them

Ten years is a long time to be “in development.” Scrap Mechanic — the physics-driven multiplayer building sandbox that spawned a decade of absurd contraption videos — left Early Access on July 24, exactly a decade after it went in.

What 1.0 actually adds

The headline is a full story line, alongside a reworked world, a new area, new enemies, new building parts, cosmetics, and a visual pass. The second story chapter, Drilling Thunder, is the meatier half: an abandoned mine, cave systems, drill attachments for your vehicles, and a path down toward the planet’s core.

Scrap Mechanic’s physics-based building sandbox, where the contraptions rarely survive first contact

Read this before you update

Two caveats matter more than the patch notes. Creative worlds should carry over fine, but existing survival saves will only load if you roll back to the previous version — so if you have a long-running survival world you care about, back it up before launching 1.0. And as with any sandbox game’s major version bump, expect mods to break until authors push updates.

The price also moved to $28.99, though the 1.0 update itself is free if you already own the game.

Why it matters

Early Access exits are usually quiet non-events — a version number ticks over and nothing changes. This one is the opposite: a decade-long build finally shipping the story mode it promised, in a co-op sandbox that shares plenty of DNA with the survival games this community already runs servers for. If your group ever bounced off Scrap Mechanic because it felt unfinished, this is the version that answers that complaint.

Sources: VGTimes — Scrap Mechanic leaves Steam Early Access after 10 years, hits version 1.0, Scrap Mechanic on Steam, Steam — Scrap Mechanic news and patch notes