4,621 Rust players banned by new anti-cheat software

Naked cavemen can't fly, or at least, they shouldn't fly. In multiplayer survival sim Rust, nudity is encouraged, but using software to disrespect gravity, walls, or augment a human's natural aiming ability is punishable by permanent ban. CheatPunch, a new anti-cheat system described in yesterday's update notes , has already detected and banned 4,621 players.

"If you get kicked from the official servers with the message that you've been banned then you have been caught," reads the post. "You're a naughty boy. You know what you have done. You won't get unbanned. We know it was your 9 year old cousin. We know your computer got hijacked. We know that the CIA is getting you banned from all your games on Steam so you will join them in the hunt for aliens."

Despite kicking nearly 5,000 players, Facepunch calls CheatPunch a "stop-gap solution" and says it's "not hard to get around."

"We fully expect cheats to be touted as 'CheatPunch proof' quite soon," reads the post. "That's cool. We're never going to be finished fighting."

And we may never be finished hitting each other with rocks. At least the 4,621 players banned represents less than one percent of the one million players who own Rust. Assuming the software makes accurate accusations, the honest majority wins and can continue to torture and murder each other in peace.

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.