The data center, episode 1Technology and energy

Insatiable demand for data — can you build a data center in America?

Lead the build of a one-gigawatt AI campus for a tenant who needs it switched on by October 2029. Choose who pays and where, stock up on what takes years to arrive, and get it past the county vote, the queue for power, cooling and the substation.

36 months to October 20295–8 minutesLiving 3DLoudoun County, Virginia

Your first call

Who is paying?

A tech giantDeep pockets. Your board wants it sooner.An AI startupOne huge contract and a lot of nerve.A local developerA bank loan, some farmland and a dream.

Play the data center What is really happening

The game's world at golden hour: a data-center campus going up in the desert, a crane lifting a roof fan, crews in hard hats, and a heavy-haul truck bringing a power transformer to the gate.

36 months to October 20295–8 minutesLiving 3DLoudoun County, Virginia

How it plays

The site rising from an empty lot to a lit campus, and the county's seven seats voting one by one.

Screens from the game itself, from one run to its end.

The county votes on your land. Four ways to win it.
The months roll by, and the campus goes up.
A ribbon at night: the halls switch on.
Or a tombstone, and what decided it.

Who you meet

The people around the table

Invented — the decisions they bring are the real ones.

DDevsite boss
RRosaelectrical lead
JJunecommunity liaison
WWaltpermit lawyer
TtThe tenantAn AI lab
TcThe county boardSeven supervisors
TuThe utilityOwns the grid

How it ends

The ribbon, at night — or here lies Project Dogwood

The ribbon, at night

the one way to win

Running out of money
A county moratorium
A zoning vote
Exhaustion
Waiting for power
A transformer shortage
A missed deadline

Why it is real

The real calls behind it

The whole story

Sep 21, 2026

Gov. Greg Abbott (Texas)

Ordered the state environmental agency to halt all data-center permits

On September 21, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas’s environmental agency to halt all data-center permits until audits of the grid and water are done.

Office of the Texas Governor

Sep 22, 2026

Pima County Board of Supervisors (Arizona)

Voted 3–2 for a 120-day pause on new data-center projects

On September 22, Pima County, Arizona, voted 3–2 for a 120-day pause on new data-center projects.

KJZZ

Sep 24, 2026

Oracle

Sent a force-majeure notice on a Stargate campus in New Mexico

Oracle sent a force-majeure notice on a Stargate campus in New Mexico, which lets it delay payments if the site misses its 2028 target. The gas pipeline meant to supply it has slipped to February 2027.

TechCrunch

Sep 17, 2026

Nevada regulators

Approved two temporary gas plants, 362 megawatts in all

On September 17, Nevada regulators approved two temporary gas plants, 362 megawatts in all, to power data centers where the utility can’t keep up.

Las Vegas Review-Journal