Servers are now wiped and Rust is kicking off 2026 with a lighter-than-usual update. After the holiday break, the team is back to work and preparing for a major year ahead.
Standard monthly wipe complete
No major gameplay systems added this month
Focus on recap, planning, and stability
2025 Recap – A Massive Year
Rust celebrated its 12th anniversary and continued strong year-over-year growth, reaching new milestones across players, playtime, and content.
259,646 highest-ever concurrent players
5.8M+ unique players
700M+ hours played
450M+ total game sessions
28,523 workshop submissions
Major Updates in 2025
2025 delivered some of the most impactful updates in Rust’s history, spanning new modes, progression changes, and large-scale world updates.
Primitive mode & new raiding methods
Crafting update (cooking, farming, armor)
Premium Servers
Jungle biome with new monuments & wildlife
Blueprint Fragments & progression overhaul
400+ Quality of Life improvements
Looking Ahead – Naval Update
The long-awaited Naval Update is scheduled for February 5th. This update introduces player-built boats, deep-sea exploration, new islands, monuments, and AI encounters.
Player-made boats
Deep ocean traversal
New island monuments
New ocean-based AI encounters
2026 Roadmap Highlights
Development throughout 2026 will focus on consistency, iteration, and expanding Rust’s ecosystem without sacrificing stability.
Guaranteed monthly updates (first Thursday)
New monuments (Apartment Complex planned)
New player models & animations
Expanded animals & breeding systems
Revisiting and improving older content
Anticheat & Security Progress
Cheating remains a top priority. 2025 saw major gains in detection speed, prevention, and player protection.
338,000+ total bans in 2025
Majority of cheaters removed within 7 hours
Premium Servers continue strong retention
HackerOne bug bounty paid out $300,000+
New third-party anticheat layer planned for 2026
Performance Improvements
Performance work continues behind the scenes with meaningful gains shipped throughout 2025.
Load & connection times reduced ~65%
Lower RAM & VRAM usage
Deep engine & rendering optimizations
Performance remains a long-term focus
DLC & Skins Ecosystem
Rust’s DLC team operates independently from core development, delivering frequent cosmetic and optional content.
Near-monthly DLC releases
$32.7M+ paid out to community skinners
Exploration of a Rust-style battle pass
1–2 new skinnable items added monthly
Rust Mobile Update
Rust Mobile is scheduled for global release in 2026, with strong early indicators from testing and demos.
