Rust: Developers cancel trade fair meetings due to serious threats

The developers of Rust wanted to be represented at the Game Developers Conference next week. However, the team had to cancel the appointment at short notice – due to a threat.

Facepunch Studios confirmed this in a statement on Twitter, which they would not have liked to have made. However, there was a threat to your own employees that you have to take seriously. For this reason, the development team will stay away from the game fair.

Rust: Developers still want to stay in touch

This should be particularly disappointing for those who wanted to come to the GDC in San Francisco to be able to talk to the developers themselves. After all, the trade fair is usually a good access point for making fresh contacts in the industry and possibly also for receiving job offers. However, this possibility should continue to exist, albeit in a different way.

This is not a statement we’re happy to announce.

Due to an IRL threat we must take seriously, we’re going to have to cancel the GDC meetup in San Fran next week. 😢

If you would like to show us portfolios, talk shop, or get feedback on your work reach out via email! (below)

— Rust (@playrust) March 15, 2023

As announced by Facepunch Studios, anyone interested can submit their portfolios via email. This also applies if you are looking for feedback for your own work. We will deal with it accordingly. However, a direct meeting at the GDC is not possible under the current circumstances, as the safety of your own employees is seen as the top priority.

Of course, no one wants to provide any further details about the incident at this point. But again, it’s worth remembering that developers are people too.

Not the first incident of this kind

Threats against game developers are unfortunately not a new phenomenon: for years there have been cases in which studios or individual personalities have had to cancel public appearances due to serious threats. Even away from trade fairs, there are often threats against studio employees.

Bungie only announced this last yearthat you temporarily restrict communication with the community, because you had to read threatening messages and toxic comments more and more often. Similarly, CD Projekt Red postponed Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020, whereupon some very severe threats were made to individual employees if they did not publish the game.

And then there are cases like STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, where the Ukrainian developers are currently under threat from a hacker. He wants to leak countless details about the game if the team does not respond to his demands.

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