Rust
Facepunch Studios · 2018 · Survival
Did the studio keep supporting this game after launch? This page is the evidence.Rust is the benchmark for relentless live-service survival support — monthly content patches for 8+ years — with stubborn blind spots when the community disagrees with its direction.
01Score breakdown
Five categories, 20 points each, 100 total. Full method on the methodology page.
02The evidence
After scrapping the original version and rebuilding from scratch in 2014-2016, Facepunch shipped Rust 1.0 on Feb 8, 2018 and has delivered a guaranteed monthly content patch ever since, including the Sep 2026 'Breach and Clear' update. Console Edition (Double Eleven) transitioned to native PS5/Xbox Series X/S versions in June 2025 after last-gen server shutdowns, anti-cheat work remains active with 338,000 bans issued in 2025 alone, and the game still holds ~92,000 average concurrent Steam players.
- Guaranteed monthly content patch every month for 8+ years since 1.0, with hotfixes between wipes and weekly patches during Early Access
- Active, measured anti-cheat: 338,000 bans in 2025, average cheater removal time cut from ~10 hours to under 7 hours, plus structural defenses like premium servers and server-side player culling
- Doubled down on the controversial 2025 blueprint-wipe and progression meta changes instead of reversing course, and ignored the Rust Legacy restoration petition
- Handled platform sunsets decently: free PS5/Xbox Series upgrade when last-gen console servers shut down, and Linux refunds when the client was discontinued
03Sources
04Audit record
- Launch date
- Feb 8, 2018
- Evidence coverage through
- Oct 5, 2026
- Methodology
- v1.0
- Audit confidence
- Medium
- Why this confidence
- Scored from recent press snapshots (monthly devblogs, ban statistics, console transition) rather than exhaustive verification of every patch over the 8+ years since launch.
- Score band
- Strong (Tier B)