The meteoric rise of Rust: Why popular streamers are turning to an 8-year old game

Rust has been experiencing a bit of a resurgence lately as streamers are returning to the game in search of more content.

But the streamers aren’t alone, Rust is currently experiencing its all time peak players on Steam, with 202,608 concurrent players. This massive rediscovery of the eight year old game seems to come on the back of streamers and content creators, mirroring the way Among Us broke into the mainstream.

Rust rediscovery; how content leads to content

The comparison to Among Us isn’t too drastic as Rust has currently entered the eye of multiple streamers and content creators. In many cases, it’s even the same content creators who are carrying Rust, with people like Jacksepiceye, Sykkuno, and 5Up all taking part in shared games of Rust.

This just goes to show how great the reach of these content creators is, and how creating content can make it easier to generate content. Because Rust is an open sandbox game, it allows players to take the game’s many tools and turn it into something of their own creation. T

he situations, the sieges, the building, and the battles are all the product of players experiencing the natural randomness expected in these kinds of games.

All it takes is for these dedicated streamers to be on the lookout for new and fun situations to capture and share with their audiences.

It’s one of those games you look up and realize you’ve been on for 12 hours without noticing

— MilkInABag (Marshall) (@MilklnABag) January 8, 2021

I definitely wanna stream a lot of rust over the next few days. Had a lot of fun even with lower viewers.

Not sure when I’ll stream today though gotta work out what server I can play on before I put da hours in :)

— LAZARBEAM (@Lazarbeam) January 8, 2021

The new big Rust server starts tonight. I will be streaming it in about 4.5 hours. There will also be in game drops enabled for those watching on my channel too and I will have my own chest skin in the game, I'm so excited!! pic.twitter.com/hS66rJ9Mi3

— Jacksepticeye (@Jack_Septic_Eye) January 7, 2021

Now is the best time to get into Rust

Rust was never an abandoned or obscure game in the way Among Us was, but it has never been bigger than today. While Rust could easily juggle 20,000 to 50,000 concurrent players, it is currently experiencing four times as many players as usual.

This means there will be four times as many chances for players to experience the wild and zany things Rust is known for, and plenty of new players to go along with. The hardest part of getting into a well-established game like this is usually that new players have to learn much of the game’s mechanics on their own, but with these kinds of events, it means they won’t be alone.

Published 09 Jan 2021, 02:15 IST

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