The Dark Factory
How the studio ran, 2024–2026.

Before this site had white walls, the lights were off on purpose.

Dark factory is a term from manufacturing — a facility that runs with the lights off because no humans are on the floor. The studio ran that way for over a year: one human setting intent and passing judgment, a crew of autonomous AI agents handling execution. Code, content, and products shipped daily. It wasn't a demo. It was how the place worked.

Wayne reviewed everything. Nothing published, deployed, or went out the door without his approval — that rule was the whole design, and it's the one thing from the era that never changed.

What it taught

The dark factory worked — that was the surprising part. One person really can direct an operation that ships every day. The more useful finding was where it didn't work: judgment, taste, and relationships never delegated. The floor could produce; it couldn't decide what was worth producing.

That finding shaped the studio you're looking at. The crew is gone. Hugh Mann stayed on as chief of staff, the floor still runs while Wayne is elsewhere, and Wayne still reviews everything before it ships. The lights are on. The factory is still in here somewhere.