Rust is a survival game that launched in 2013 and achieved great success on Steam. In 2021, it was also released for PS4 and Xbox One. Now, the developers behind the game had to cancel an event because they received death threats that they take seriously. It is common in the survival genre, says one of the developers. Players were upset about changes in the game – especially cheaters and cheat creators would harass and threaten developers.
What event is Rust canceling? Facepunch, the British studio behind Rust, had planned a small event on the sidelines of the ‘Game Developers Conference.’ They wanted to talk, converse, and exchange ideas with fans in a cafe in San Francisco.
However, in a statement on March 15, the team said (via twitter): They have to cancel the event because they received an ‘IRL Threat,’ a threat ‘in real life,’ that they take seriously.
The team will still participate in the conference, appearing in panel talks, but they will not be available for a peaceful meet and greet as planned.
Received threat to “kill the studio”
What kind of threat was that? In a conversation with PC Gamer, producer Alistair McFarlane explains that the location of the meeting was made public and they received a threat to “kill the studio.”
Therefore, the studio decided it would be too dangerous and would put too much stress on the employees to hold the meeting.
McFarlane says: ‘These threats are very disturbing and must be taken seriously.’
Especially cheaters are a source of threats and insults
What makes this so distressing? In a conversation with PC Gamer, the producer says that such threats are common for teams behind survival games:
- Developers who talk to the community receive such threats daily when people voice their dissatisfaction about changes on social media.
- Especially cheat creators frequently threaten and harass developers – and go to great lengths to target individual employees.
- In some cases, employees and their family members have already had to change personal details – this is very stressful for mental health.
McFarlane also says: The overwhelming majority of fans are respectful and support the employees, but there is always a small number of individuals who stand out with abusive behavior and even threats.
Rust has repeatedly made headlines in recent years because it serves as a great sandbox for Twitch streamers:
The German Twitch scene discovers Rust, immediately triggering a sexism discussion
