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[Draugoth]

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Rust developer Facepunch Studios has canceled a small event that would have taken place at a coffee shop in San Francisco next week, citing "an IRL threat."

The meet and greet was set to take place near the 2023 Game Developers Conference, and was pitched by Facepunch as a chance for conference attendees and fans to meet the Rust team, share their portfolios, and "talk shop."

In an email exchange, Rust producer Alistair McFarlane told PC Gamer that threats are "commonplace" for developers of the survival game.

Community facing staff see threats daily," he wrote, typically from players who "lash out on social media" over changes they don't like. McFarlane also pointed to cheat makers and users as a source of harassment and threats, saying that individuals from the "cheat community" will "often go to great efforts to target individual staff members.

In some instances, staff members and their families have had to "change personal details" due to doxxing, McFarlane said, which "often takes a heavy toll on their mental health."

The location of next week's event had been broadcast publicly, and following "threats to kill," the studio decided that holding it would present too great a safety risk and cause too much anxiety for staff.

"These threats are very concerning and must be taken seriously," said McFarlane.

Facepunch will still be attending GDC as planned, and says that those who'd planned to go to the meetup can instead get in touch by email.

 

[Patrick S.]

No wonder. The people who play Rust are the worst kind of trash.

 

[Omali]

Rust has an especially toxic and cancerous community and the people who make commercial cheats for that game are even more disgusting people when their cheats get detected and banned, so this doesn't shock me at all.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Individual is not only a cheater but also sends threats to devs? Peak human scum.

 

[cormack12]

This is shocking. Who still says IRL

 

[Kacho]

A community so toxic there is a YouTube channel dedicated to trolling cheaters

 

[azertydu91]

How you can threaten the devs of a game you like (or used to like) is beyond me.Okay I can understand some insults (even then I think it is a stretch but some people are impulsive) when there is a drastic bad choice that was amde but there are other ways to express your dissatisfaction.

 

[Bonfires Down]

The Rust player base might be the worst one out there. It's tough competition though.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Art imitates life imitates art.

Larp.

 

[Wildebeest]

Rust is designed to appeal to sociopaths. If someone tells you their favourite game is Rust and their favourite artists are Eminem and Justin Bieber, then run, run, run away.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Rust is one of the most fascinating design concepts in all of gaming.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Rust community is the worst. Think I played about 1 hour many years ago, was more than enough. It's a no for me dawg.

 

[Catphish]

This is shocking. Who still says IRL

I have a friend, a 49-year-old man, who says it.

 

[The Cockatrice]

This is shocking. Who still says IRL

 

[reinking]

Sad that people get so caught up in a game that they would resort to threats. I’m glad they are taking the threats serious. I would like to see more action taken against those that make these kinds of threats.

 

[phaedrus]

This is shocking. Who still says IRL

 

[SmokedMeat]

I couldn’t imagine working to deliver content for such a shit fanbase.

 

[Silver Wattle]