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Update - April 10: To the surprise of no one, Rust developer Facepunch Studios has confirmed that a newly resurfaced Rust 2 Steam page is "fake/not us," as community lead Errn says on Twitter.
This had all the makings of a nothingburger, though a curious response from Rust chief Alistair McFarlane escalated the chatter, and it turns out it's a nothingburger with no sauce. As you were, Rust fans.
Original story:
A Steam listing making the rounds online suggests Rust 2 is a real and free-to-play sequel to Rust, but the whole thing reeks of a Reddit troll campaign that could easily be a big ol' farce.
"RUST 2 IS REAL?!" reads an excited post from Reddit user Freeqncy, who, as rightfully paranoid Rust fans spotted, made their Reddit account today. The post includes a screenshot for the unlisted Steam page for Rust 2, which you can view for yourself here. The only meaningful detail on the incomplete page is perhaps the listed genre: "Free To Play". Freeqncy followed up with a screenshot of Rust 2 in their wishlist, saying: "It's on my wishlist, pretty sure its not fake." This is also what I say when I am not faking things.
Almost instantly, Facepunch boss and Reddit hound Alistair_Mc, or Alistair McFarlane, commented on the post, earning it the "Facepunch Response" tag in the Rust subreddit. "You saw nothing," McFarlane said. McFarlane is COO and company director at Facepunch as well as a regular on the Rust Reddit. His Reddit activity history is filled with developer troubleshooting, but he's been quiet since commenting on this alleged Rust 2 post.
If there is actually a cat in this bag, the bag is transparent and the cat glows in the dark. Rust is one of the most successful and influential survival games of all time, a veritable Steam legend. I don't know if Facepunch would actually orchestrate a bread crumb announcement via Reddit pranks – smack in the middle of an indie game showcase, as it happens – but I absolutely see why people suspect the developer is pulling the strings here.
There is a SteamDB entry for Rust 2 dating back to early 2024 – notably flagged by SteamDB "as suspicious, as it may be malicious or impersonating another product" – but its update history is a graveyard. Until we get a listed Steam page and a straight-faced announcement of some kind, I'm keeping this purported news on a low simmer. Rust 2 could be real, or this could be a nothingburger served up by the usual internet time wasters.
