Despite facing competition from newer titles like Palworld and Once Human, Rust has maintained its position among Steam's top games throughout 2024. Recently, it surpassed its previous record of 245,243 concurrent users set in January 2021, reaching a new peak of 262,284 players.
With over 17.5 million copies sold and an 87% approval rating on Steam, Rust's success can be attributed to consistent updates and new content. McFarlane highlighted the significant 2.0 world update and the addition of backpacks, bikes, and weapons as key factors in the game's continued popularity.
Looking ahead to 2025, McFarlane emphasized the team's commitment to monthly updates. The first of these, the Primitive update, will launch on February 6th and introduce a dedicated game mode featuring medieval-inspired combat with swords, shields, and crossbows, along with enhanced horses and new siege vehicles.
Facepunch Studios has ambitious plans for Rust's future, including a major overhaul of the cooking system, a new Jungle biome with crocodiles and tigers, and refinements to both softcore and hardcore game modes. McFarlane assured players that these are just a glimpse of the many exciting features in development for Rust in 2025.
