Rust is a survival-fps game that first came out as an early access title in 2013 followed by a full release in 2018. Rust is a sandbox-survival PVP game with high stakes and playing it can either bring you the “highest of highs or the lowest of lows” according to CerealOverdrive. Anyways, let’s take a look at why people are only recently picking up on Rust why it’s fun.

Why Are People Playing Rust… Again?

Despite being out for almost eight years, people are only now playing Rust. This is because a number of high-profile streamers banded together to play the game on their private server. Internet icons such as xQc, Myth, Pokimane, and Valkyrae among dozens of others attracted a substantially large viewership. Additionally, the game is giving out Twitch drops for viewers granting them free in-game cosmetics. What really propelled the viewership, exposure and popularity of the game, however, was the drama centering xQc.

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xQc Versus The World

In terms of which incident exactly caused this drama, we will have to take a look at the game’s concept for context. Rust is an online PVP-survival-sandbox game that is traditionally played with the sole goal of survival in mind. Streamer group OfflineTV made a custom server where the players don’t attack each other and instead openly cooperate to survive.

Since they play cooperatively, OfflineTV’s custom server is very much unlike the typical brutal nature of Rust’s public servers. The drama stirred when xQc murdered fellow server members, breaking the rules set by OTV. The drama developed as xQc claims that the hate was one-sided and other members weren’t chastised as severely when they murdered him to raid his loot.

Drama Alone Didn’t Sell the Game

Much drama followed since then, from YouTuber Valkyrae abruptly ending her stream mid-game to Pokimane announcing her hiatus from the server. However, people wouldn’t start playing the game in hopes of replicating their internet idol’s lives alone.

Even before the popularity surge, Rust had a healthy playerbase of around 50,000 concurrent players daily. Here are a list of 5 more reasons people are still playing Rust, eight years later:

It Gets You High

Playing Rust is one of those experiences that’ll bring you exhilarating highs and diminutive lows. Rust is played on servers called “Wipes”, where everything from resources to terrain is freshly spawned. Every player starting on a Wipe has a singular goal in mind: survive.

You start with a single rock to mine resources, and slowly craft tools upgrade your repertoire to survive the brash environment of Rust and other players. The high comes from outwitting and outlasting other players that devote as much time and effort as you do to survive; if not destroying and raiding all of their hard-earned resources yourself first.

Like Substance Withdrawal, It’s More Addicting than Demotivating

Conversely, Rust can also bring you to the lowest of lows. There’s nothing more soul-crushing than having your dozens of hours of effort raided and destroyed by being outplayed by another player. Despite that, fans of the online-survival genre have found the consequences of Rust to be more addicting rather off-putting. Rust veterans reportedly put thousands of hours playing the game and even have the application installed on their phone to be notified if they’re being raided.

It Has A Steep Learning Curve

Rust doesn’t test your resource management and survivability skills. It also requires a lot of mechanical precision in handling its weapons. For instance, the bow is one of the early-game weapons that requires a lot of training to master.

Rust doesn’t utilize Hitscan to register hits on opponents. Instead it relies on a projectile collision system. Mastering the trajectory and timing of your arrow will require immense skill but also give you a greater advantage over players that opt to use the easier to master spear.

Additionally, there is a lot to learn in Rust, such as the recycling system, scrap economy system, crafting blueprints and base-building. It’s a game that negates casual nature and requires those interested to dedicate effort into learning the game.

It Allows You to be Creative

Learning the basics of Rust may be daunting, but it doesn’t stop there. Armed with your newfound knowledge, you can be very creative with everything. A frequently used phrase to describe Rust is “a hardcore, brutal version of Minecraft with Half-Naked People”, and there’s a lot you can compare it to. You can create creative traps to catch unsuspecting players like how Boxbox traps xQc in the clip below.

spent 3 hours making this death trap but every second was worth it pic.twitter.com/O9c81ShlgK

— BoxBox (@BoxBox) January 13, 2021

It’s Great With Friends

The main issue with playing Rust on the public servers is that you can never really trust anybody. There’s simply too much at stake. Your dozens of hours of effort into looting and farming hundred if not thousands of materials could just as easily be stolen by your longtime partner in a matter of mere seconds. Additionally, playing solo puts you at a disadvantage should other players have already formed alliances of their own.

That’s why playing Rust with your friends can be a much more pleasurable and appreciated experience. Teaming up with a friend makes it easier to deal with enemy threats and makes collecting and sharing resources a lesser burden. Not to mention, it is also somewhat a sense of relief that you know your partner(s) isn’t going to backstab you outside of comedic purposes.

And that concludes the list of reasons why people have started playing, if not are STILL playing Rust. Interested in starting? Get Rust on Steam with cheap Steam Wallet for all regions with SEAGM (affiliate link). The game is expected to come out on PlayStation and Xbox as well sometime this year as well. For more on Rust, stay tuned to SEAGM News as we have a beginner’s guide coming out soon!