Facepunch Studios has decided not to go to the GDC event in San Francisco because its team has been threatened. The studio is known for games like Rust, a multiplayer survival game that came out in 2013, and Garry’s Mod, a sandbox game.
Rust used to hold the record for the most people playing at the same time, and it is still one of the studio’s most popular games. This isn’t the first time someone has tried to threaten a developer. In February, a woman was arrested for allegedly sending death threats to a Nintendo executive.
Even though most fans get upset when news about their favorite games doesn’t turn out the way they wanted, it is never okay to send hurtful messages to staff or try to put other people in danger. Even though most of the threats aren’t dangerous, they can sometimes make the people who are being threatened feel very scared.
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Facepunch Studios has decided not to attend the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, as announced on the Rust Twitter account. While the studio did not specify the specific incidents that led to the cancellation, a follow-up statement reminded fans that developers are human and that safety is of the utmost importance when dealing with such incidents.
Even though the studio canceled the event, it still asked people who were interested to send in their portfolios or just get in touch for a chat and feedback. SEA Server Admin Fauzaan said on Twitter that he thought Rust players might be acting the same way in real life as they do in the game.
He went on to say that, in his experience, the game could use some ways to punish bad behavior and encourage good behavior. Facepunch Studios could possibly prevent player toxicity by taking a page from Ubisoft’s and Riot’s playbooks.
Facepunch Studios didn’t say much about what happened, so commenters were left to guess what happened and who was attacked. Some people think that the negative feedback was caused by changes to the game’s balance.
One commenter even posted a screenshot of a proposed office raid to get the Rust team to change the recoil settings. But since there is no confirmation, fans really don’t know why the GDC was canceled. The studio made the right choice by putting the safety of the team first. The team hopes that this won’t affect any other plans, events, or releases that are coming up in the future.