Every update, patch and developer post we have logged for Rust, newest first: the date, the headline, a one-line summary and a link to the original source. We file Rust under Open-World Survival.
Rust in the Lab
| Date | Title | Summary | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-22 | HALLOWEEN 2026 | Rust's Halloween event runs until November 5 with a Candy Hunt every two in-game days, craftable pet monsters, rift portals, and limited store skins. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-10-01 | Livestock Update | Rust's monthly update adds livestock animals, critters and swimmers, new food recipes, a Biofuel Generator, a Sandbag Barricade overhaul, and Powergrid… | rust.facepunch.com |
| 2026-09-03 | BREACH AND CLEAR | Rust's update adds a tiered upkeep tax for larger tool-cupboard groups, destructible monument blockers on red keycard monuments, and scarce HQM ore nodes. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-07-31 | Facepunch director Alistair McFarlane, who once offered to buy New World from Amazon and faked us out about Rust 2, has left the company | Facepunch Studios COO and director Alistair McFarlane departed on July 30 after 11 years, having moved from QA to executive producer on Rust. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-07-02 | COMMON GROUND | The Common Ground update adds an apartment complex monument where players rent rooms with scrap and can be evicted, plus a marketplace of player-run shops. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-06-04 | BUILT DIFFERENT | Rust's update replaces the decade-old player model with new meshes, hair and clothing rigging, and adds loot-only Ballistic Armour and BDU sets. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-05-07 | UPGRADE HARD, RAID HARDER | Rust adds a nine-upgrade workbench system, a deployable mortar with two shell types, trap-loadable tin can alarms, and a vending machine UI refresh. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-04-02 | SPRING CLEAN | Rust's Spring Clean update adds the Armoured Ladder Hatch and Water Wheel, tech tree multi-unlocking, 24-hour plant ripeness, and shield hitbox changes. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-02-17 | lunar new year 2026 | Rust's Lunar New Year 2026 celebration adds the Ornate Horse Mask, Horse Armour, and other Year of the Horse items. | rust.facepunch.com |
| 2026-02-05 | NAVAL UPDATE | The Naval Update adds player-built boats, boat-specific deployables, the Deep Sea region, ghost ships, and floating cities. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-01-22 | COMMUNITY UPDATE 268 | Community Update 268 opens the Naval Update staging branch for player feedback ahead of the February wipe and dates Twitch drops to February 5-15. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2026-01-01 | SURVIVING 12 YEARS | Year-end blog dates the Naval update with player-made boats to Feb 5, confirms a 2026 global Rust Mobile launch, and cites a 259,646 peak player count in 2025. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2025-12-22 | Final Round of Voting – Rust in the Steam Awards | Facepunch asks the community to vote for Rust in the Steam Awards Labor of Love category after the game advanced to the final round. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2025-12-18 | SEASONS BEATINGS | Rust's Christmas event runs December 18 to January 1, spawning gift presents near players, stocking loot, an advent calendar, and Twitch/Kick drops. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2025-12-18 | Silent Night, Violent Night | Facepunch's yearly Rustmas Christmas event is now live in Rust, announced via the devblog "Silent Night, Violent Night" with no further details given. | rust.facepunch.com |
| 2025-12-03 | Getting It Right | Rust's devblog post 'Getting It Right' carries only the line 'We Bit Off More Than We Could Chew'; the feed includes no further detail. | rust.facepunch.com |
| 2025-11-24 | Vote for Rust! The Steam Awards are now live! | Facepunch asks Rust players to vote for the game in the Steam Awards' Labor of Love category, citing twelve years of development and monthly content updates. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2025-11-06 | PIVOT OR DIE | Rust's November update wipes all blueprints and servers, cuts tech tree and research costs sharply, and adds box sorting and a Mini Fridge. | store.steampowered.com |
| 2025-10-23 | WARHAMMER 40,000 X RUST DLC PACK | Rust's Warhammer 40,000 pack adds Death Korps of Krieg skins for the Hazmat Suit, Large Backpack, Chainsaw, Pump Shotgun and storage barrels, alongside the… | store.steampowered.com |
| 2025-10-23 | Rust x Warhammer 40,000 Pack | Facepunch announces a Warhammer 40,000 crossover pack bringing the Death Korps of Krieg to Rust, with no contents, price or release date detailed in the post. | rust.facepunch.com |