Rust: New “Experimental” Mode Divides Players

Rust players are seemingly divided over a new “experimental” mode coming to the PC game in its next update. Rust producer Alistair McFarlane recently shared that with February 4th’s update, developer Facepunch Studios is adding a “softcore mode” that will essentially pull the game back to its vanilla form. The mode is considered “highly experimental” and the aim with it is “to soften” the experience not just for new players, but less active players.

Adding to this, McFarlane reveals this is something the team has wanted to do for years, and that the mode will be updated and tweaked based on player feedback. And of course, if you don’t want to engage with the mode, you can avoid servers running it.

Below, you can read more about what the mode does, courtesy of McFarlane:

Right now, this is the extent of what Facepunch Studios has said about the new mode, but it’s enough to have some players worried and annoyed. While many players are embracing the idea, others are shouting it down in the replies for a variety of reasons that range from reasonable to less reasonable.

At current, Rust is far from welcoming to new players and casual players who don’t play very much. And of course, this is a problem. It may not be a problem for those already playing it, but it’s a problem for Facepunch Studios if it wants to grow the player base. If new players are getting obliterated by experienced players while trying to learn the game, many will just move on to something else. This is the reason so many multiplayer games — from Call of Duty and Fortnite — have been ramping up SBMM, to protect new and casual players.

Rust is available via the PC, and right now, only the PC, though it’s in development for PS4 and Xbox One as well.