Rust raises $80,000 for charity by selling 20,000 virtual moustaches

Rust's seventh birthday cake. — (Image credit: Facepunch Studios)

First released in 2013, Rust would go on to spend over four years in Steam Early Access, marking its full release in 2018 with a grand visual overhaul. At the time, we said that "Rust is one of the cruellest games on Steam, and that's what makes it so compelling".

Rust is cruel. Almost every time I've played it, something terrible has happened, usually involving several hours' worth of planning and investment going down the tubes. Yet like many games with this hardcore edge, there is also a deeply playful and at times silly side: the great dong dilemma, adding hot air balloons, even the first paid DLC being musical instruments. That is to say that this is a cruel world but one also beloved by its players and filled with pockets of warmth: the experienced travellers who help out, those who like to joke around, the rare joy of great collaboration with a total stranger.

Some of that spirit is what recently made Facepunch one of the biggest donors towards Movember, a charity dedicated to men's health issues. Part of the organisation's campaign is the widely-publicised trend of folk growing moustaches over the month of November to raise cash, and Rust's Movember Moustache gives players a natty lip-rug for just under £4. Over 20,000 of these moustaches were sold in November, and raised $80,000 for the cause.

This was announced alongside patch notes for Rust's seventh anniversary, which will see the introduction of a delicious-looking birthday cake at 1 pm EST/19:00 GMT today. It's a sponge cake with chocolate icing, topped with meringue and raspberries, and the only thing overbaked is the lighting effects. This thing could win the Great British Bake-Off. As it is, players can either scarf it down, or throw it around.

Perhaps of more consequence is that airdrops have received both a visual and internal makeover. "There is now an associated loot rework, removing lower quality items in favour of higher quality and rarer loot. We hope players will now be encouraged to contest airdrop events!" That is one shiny-ass tarpaulin.

The new shiny airdrop in Rust. — (Image credit: Facepunch Studios)

Finally, a new tech tree has been added to simplify crafting, which will probably have the Rust nutters saying I buried the lede. I did! Stay away from my cabin assholes. There are a host of minor changes alongside this, and the full patch notes are here.

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."