Rust Console Edition Beta Keys Going Out Now

Rust has been incredibly popular on Steam for the past few months thanks to content creators online boosting the appeal of the game. For those who may have missed it, a group of content creators called OfflineTV made an online Rust server and created content surrounding their experiences playing together.

Since then, Rust's popularity has increased dramatically, which in turn helped the game to gain an even wider and stronger player base. Now that Rust is expanding to console versions, the earliest beta keys for both the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game have gone out to a limited selection of players to test the game on newer platforms.

Though Rust has been in early access on Steam since 2013, the game only officially released its final version in 2018. The console version of Rust was also announced some time ago, but is still not fully complete. However, Facepunch Studios recently put out a teaser trailer for Rust's console version, which looks to perform very well on console from the brief glimpses that were shown. Now, the official Twitter account for Rust Console Edition sent out a tweet confirming that a limited number of console owners are receiving beta keys which will allow them to play the game early.

Still, it's not as if players who received beta keys will experience the finished product early. The tweet stresses that the main purpose for the beta testing period on console is to test out server stability, meaning the team can't just invite a ton of players to join the beta just yet. Considering Rust continuously topped the Steam sales chart, there are probably a lot of very eager console players who are looking to get their hands on the game as soon as possible. With any luck, the beta period goes well and Facepunch Studios gets the data it needs to further development of the final release.

Despite releasing in early access back in 2013, Rust, a survival multiplayer game developed by Facepunch Studios, is getting a lot of attention now than ever before. Of course, video games that become popular years after their original release date is not that uncommon, and one good example is the 2018 social deduction game Among Us.

It is worth noting that while Rust's popularity is at its highest right now, the game has been able to capture the interest of players since it entered early access in 2013 up until its full release in 2018. For years, Rust has been lingering around the top ten lists on Steam and is considered as one of the best survival games right now. Of course, the question now is, why the sudden interest? And how did the game manage to gain worldwide attention despite releasing nearly eight years ago?

Several popular video game streamers have discovered Rust around the holidays, which led to even more players discovering the survival game. At the end of December, several Twitch streamers such as Shroud, XQc, Pokimane, Disgusted Toast, and many more began playing Rust on the same server organized by Offline TV, which is now causing some drama. This led to the game's breakout to the mainstream video game community, especially after the game reached a new peak of viewership with over a million viewers last January.