Factorio has Silicon Valley titans like Elon Musk in its grip, and a $7 billion CEO lets employees spend the game.

The bourgeoisie remains a mystery. What do they do in their high-rise towers, with their millions and trillions of dollars? What schemes do they hatchet? What are the frontiers they plan to plunder? What arrogant, proud conspiracies are brewing in the penthouses of the boardrooms and the offices?

Oh, they are just playing Factorio.

The Financial Times, who you would expect to know about these things, has published an article today on the stranglehold that the factory management simulation has over Silicon Valley executives. The Financial Times, which is the perfect source to know these things, has published an article today about the stranglehold the factory management sim has over Silicon Valley and its execs.

Lutke believes the game is a valuable tool for training Shopify employees. He even lets them claim their copies. Lutke said on the Invest Like The Best Podcast a few years ago that not all video games were created equal. But "Factorio" is the video game he allows Shopify employees to expense, because it will be good for Shopify if they play Factorio a bit.

Lutke said, "Shopify builds warehouses to fulfill products for its customers." "We are building six networks of global supply chains. "Factorio is a kind of game that takes that kind of thinking and turns it into a game."

According to Lutke games like Factorio allow you to practice skills that are only "rarely" used in real life. "That will change your brain and your mind and help you to be prepared for situations that you could not predict in advance." This sounds like an excellent excuse to get your boss to pay $35 for Space Age. He also mentions StarCraft a bit later in the episode as a great teaching tool for tech employees, for those situations where your company needs to acquire more minerals.

I'll be honest. I can't point to a specific instance in my life when videogame experience helped me in real-life. But I also think it's fair to say that, having grown up so immersed, I don't have the frame of references necessary to notice if a skill I developed while playing is giving me a lift. I do think that employers should be able to expense their game purchases. Next time you talk to your boss, tell him that a man worth $7 billion does it.