Rust is infamous for having a pretty hostile player base - something I learned the hard way when I first started playing - but a change arriving this month could make it easier to avoid your worst neighbours. A new "contact system" is being rolled out as part of Rust's June update, and it will highlight those who have done bad things to you.

"Upon meeting a new player they'll be logged into your contacts and the contact system will now keep a history of all interactions (good, bad, indifferent, rage-inducing etc)," Facepunch explained in a press release. "To help quickly identify friend from foe, players' nameplates will now display blue for friendly and red for hostile. Waving at players will reveal your name (it doesn't always pay to be nice...) and using binoculars will reveal if a player is unknown, hostile or friendly from large distances."

On the surface, it sounds similar to the way hostile players are marked in Red Dead Online with a red dot or star depending on their recent actions. With Rust, however, it seems like it will be up to the individual to categorise other players: you can designate someone as an enemy, for instance, and make notes on each player you meet. Seems like a handy way to keep track of all those nakeds.

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UPDATE 1.30pm UK: Rust developer Facepunch has released a fresh update on the game's EU servers following last night's devastating fire - and it's bad news.

"We've confirmed a total loss of the affected EU servers during the OVH data centre fire," Facepunch wrote. "We're now exploring replacing the affected servers. Data will be unable to be restored."

Earlier today, Facepunch said 25 EU servers had been lost. In general, Rust wipes player progress every month, but it's unclear how many of these servers hosted community-run servers with their own rules.

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If you've ever dipped a toe into Rust, you'll know the PvP can get rough mere seconds after you've spawned naked on a beach - so if you fancy a gentler introduction (or perhaps just a break from marauding zergs), the new Softcore Gamemode could be the thing for you.

Introduced yesterday as part of the February update, the Softcore mode provides a slightly more forgiving Rust experience. When a player is killed, instead of losing everything they will instead be able to recoup half their inventory - either at the spot of death, or at a reclaim terminal (at the Bandit Camp or Outpost monuments). You'll have two hours to reach a terminal before those items despawn, but still - it's far better than losing it all to someone with an AK. On top of this, players will also have the opportunity to spawn in the Bandit Town or Outpost safezones at any time (if they are not flagged as hostile).

Rust is also pretty infamous for its zerg clans - groups with dozens of players that can easily overwhelm solos or small groups - and Softcore helps discourage this by capping team sizes at four.

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If you hadn't yet noticed, Rust is having a bit of a moment. Although it's been around since 2013, the survival multiplayer is experiencing a resurgence in popularity after a bunch of high-profile streamers set up private server together. The streamers, including Shroud, Pokimane, Myth, XQc and more, have all uploaded their own perspectives of the island (even creating their own factions), making for compelling viewing - and seriously boosting Rust's player count in the process.

Prior to the recent surge in popularity, Rust's previous Steam concurrent players record stood at 125k in April 2020 (coinciding with coronavirus lockdowns), but on 8th January it smashed that record by peaking at 201,497 players. The numbers have continued to rise over the last week, and as spotted by PCGamesN, the game hit 244,394 concurrent players on 16th January - breaking that record yet again.

All this, of course, seems to be paying off very nicely for Rust developer Facepunch, with studio founder Garry Newman revealing the studio had made over $1m (£734k) on two days in one week. With the player count showing no sign of declining, I imagine this is going to be an extremely good month for the game. And we haven't even had the Rust console launch yet.

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Quite frankly, I've been looking for an excuse to show off my piano skills on Eurogamer for some time - and this month the perfect opportunity fell right into my inbox. A few weeks ago, Rust - the survival game infamous for its anarchy and general brutality - added a surprisingly wholesome instruments DLC pack, allowing players to construct a variety of instruments such as trumpets, drums... and pianos.

This was already intriguing, but one line of the press release really caught my attention. The instruments accept MIDI input. Oh boy. Did this mean I could hook up an entire electric piano to a computer, and play live piano in Rust? I had to try it out.

And, of course, it's the Christmas season - so to make it festive, and my life extra complicated, I announced to my editors that I would go carolling. Live. In Rust.

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If you're like me, then you'll firmly believe that all games could be vastly improved with the addition of a melodious hooter that you can blast a proper tune out of when spirits are low. And developer Facepunch Studios is clearly on the same page because it's just announced that Rust's first "premium" DLC will add a whole new range of musical instruments.

Rust already has one playable instrument in the form of the acoustic guitar, but the brutal multiplayer survival game's entirely wholesome new paid DLC will introduce an additional 10 - something that fans seem to have been genuinely clamouring for.

In total, Rust's instrument pack will usher in the wheelbarrow piano, junkyard drum kit, the shovel bass, the xylobones, the sousaphone, cowbell, canbourine, jerry can guitar, pan flute, and, finally, the plumber's trumpet. Which is not the delightful euphemism it might initially seem to be. Pictures of each and every one can be found in the official announcement post.

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Yep, that's right: the game that made me fear the sound of helicopters is coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 next year, so even more people can experience the nudist, rock-bashing trauma fun. Hurrah!

Announced last night during Microsoft's X019 presentation, survival sim Rust is arriving on consoles sometime in 2020, although we don't yet know key details such as whether cross-play will be a feature. Things could get interesting if a batch of fresh newbies are released onto PC servers.

Developed by Facepunch and released in 2013, Rust has consistently been doing well on Steam - with player numbers reaching a concurrent player peak of over 93k back in July, with around 8m players in total. It's a game of complete anarchy and resource-grabbing, with highly aggressive bears and equally aggressive players. Having said that, I've also had some very stupid adventures in Rust, including an episode where my friend and I went on a revenge murder spree.

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We often publish uplifting articles on here about the positive impact of games. Whether that be a Skyrim-playing grandma immortalised in the next Elder Scrolls game, or a memorial to a modder's dog - games have an incredible power to heal and soothe.

This story's about vengeance.

Specifically, it's about my adventures in Rust, the survival sim which had a big moment a few years ago and has quietly but consistently bubbled away on Steam ever since.

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Rust, Facepunch Studios' famously nude survival game, is leaving Early Access on February 8th, after four years in development.

The announcement was made in a blog post by Rust designer Garry Newman, which detailed what, exactly, the game's transition from Early Access to its version 1.0 release will mean. And that can probably be summarised as 'not all that much, beyond a price increase'.

"We're not planning any big reveals, launch parties, around the world tours or cash prize giveaways for this event. We're not going to move staff onto other projects", explained Newman, "It's very much going to happen without much fuss. It's business as usual."

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