Facepunch Studios, the developers of the hit video game Rust have canceled an event where they were going to meet up with fans thanks to a death threat that they have received. This meet-up was going to take place on this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. Unfortunately, the developers at Facepunch had to take the threat very seriously and because of this, nobody gets to have fun.
So, what was the event about? The event was a meet and greet that was set to take place near the 2023 GDC event and was supposed to be an event where Facepunch fans would meet attendees and fans to talk about Rust, share portfolios with the developers and even would have a “talk shop”. Unfortuantely, the laughs and joy stopped prematurely once the dev team received a death threat that they had to take seriously, making them cancel the event entirely.
This announcement came last week, as can be seen below:
It’s important to remember the developers are indeed humans. When threats arise we make their safety #1.
We’d love to see what you make!
gdc@facepunchstudios.com— Rust (@playrust) March 15, 2023
Rust Producer Alistair McFarlane told PC Gamer that, unfortunately, these kinds of threats are pretty commonplace for the developers. In fact, they come from players who tend to lash out on social media over changes that they dislike. Additionally, another source of harassment and threats also comes from the cheat community as they also don’t like it when changes to the game prevent cheating in some way or another.
The producer also stated that staff members had to resort to changing personal details due to the way these threats have involved doxxing of the staff members and their families. Since the location was made public for the GDC event, the death threats didn’t make themselves wait as several people began telling the Rust developers that they would kill them. Thus, Facepunch was forced to cancel the meetup to prevent a safety risk and causing anxiety for the staff.
Of course, the community responded to this announcement with disappointment but already we know that this isn’t the first (nor last) studio to receive this kind of threats. Rust’s story is just one of many stories of harassment and safety risks where developers are doxxed or threatened with their deaths. Facepunch will still attend GDC 2023, though. Additionally, you can still contact the developers through an email which was provided above.
McFarlane also pointed out that, despite this shameful display of threatening proportions, most Rust fans are still respectful and supportive of the developer’s choices. As such, there’s no ill will toward the majority of Rust fans despite this small subset’s actions. Stay tuned for more.
