Female models come to Rust, but only for admins

Female models are now partially live in Rust, which is to say that they're in the game, but work on them remains to be done. For now, all admins will be switched to the female model to help with testing, and once the models are fully implemented, a player's sex, like his or her race, will be assigned at random.

"We still have some stuff to work out, like making alternate clothing models for her, but if you’re an admin on a server you’ll be the female model," Newman wrote in the latest devblog. "To clear up some confusion, when we it does go live you won’t get a choice of whether you’re female or male. We’re not 'taking the choice away' from you. You never had a choice. A man’s voice coming out of a woman’s body is no more weird than an 8 year-old boy’s voice coming out of a man’s body."

Newman confirmed in email that all admins will be set to female automatically, although "that just for testing right now." And yes, like other physical characteristics, sex will be assigned to specific Steam IDs, and cannot be changed.

The devlog also answers questions about the game's integration of Steam inventory, because, Newman said, "I know this shit makes people nervous." Items being added to the inventory are purely cosmetic, and more significantly, Facepunch isn't charging for them; instead, they'll be awarded based on playtime. There are currently no plans to sell blueprints, which he said the studio sees as "more like a card collecting game where the cards are something you actually want," but it could happen in the future.

"The thing I guess to understand is that Rust is STILL in Early Access and we need to take advantage of that fact," he wrote. "This is the time for experimentation—because once it’s not in early access we won’t be able to do these kinds of game changing things—and we’ll wish we had."

Other changes to the game include the addition of Bone and Wood armor, changes to player movement and "Head Freelook," various visual improvements, and quite a bit more. By all appearances, it's been a busy week. Full details are up at PlayRust.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.