This graph showing the simultaneous players in Rust was posted to the /r/playrust subreddit by Garry on 13th December 2016.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3316874733

The graph indicates the popular launch of the game in December 2013, and (as many popular games did) rode the "flavour of the month" period in February 2014 before settling into a lower (but stable) playercount.

I've marked on it the point when Rust Legacy was switched out with Rust Experimental (October 2014).

In August 2015, there were mentions of "all the Rust servers getting DDosed", though it's not clear if this was the reason that the playercount temporarily crashed.

According to one source - in November 2015, Rust was discounted for the first time, which was initially by around 33%, and then in December 2015 it was discounted by 50%.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20230606010249/https://old.reddit.com/r/playrust/comments/5i39cv/rust_is_losing_players/
  
• https://web.archive.org/web/20230604232358/https://old.reddit.com/r/playrust/comments/3gqiyf/rust_causing_network_problems/
  
• https://web.archive.org/web/20230604120458/https://old.reddit.com/r/playrust/comments/3g7inm/why_are_all_the_rust_servers_getting_ddosed/

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