Rust has topped Steam's Best Sellers list this week, knocking Cyberpunk 2077 off the top spot after seven weeks.
To say the open-world, survival game Rust has experienced somewhat of a resurgence this past few weeks would be putting it lightly. The game continues to bring in hundreds of thousands of new players, doubling its player count on a weekly basis. It's also doing incredibly well financially, having earned developer Facepunch Studios $1 million dollars in just two days.
As a result, the game is now Steam's best selling game based on revenue. Rust skyrocketed onto the best sellers list last week debuting at fourth place but has now topped the list, knocking Cyberpunk 2077 off first place after having dominated the position for seven weeks. It's an incredible achievement for a game that came out of early access nearly three years ago to earn more on Steam than one of the hottest games around at the minute, despite Cyberpunk's bug-ridden launch.
Most of Rust's success has been down to the game's renewed popularity on Twitch after a number of high-profile streamers started playing the game together. At the time of writing, Rust currently has the highest number of viewers out of any other category on Twitch, and double the number of viewers of second-placed Just Chatting.
The pandemic is also unquestionably another key factor in why games like Rust are seeing renewed popularity. Almost every single one of the most popular games from last year is multiplayer-focused in some way. Games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Fall Guys, Phasmophobia, and Among Us all offer social interaction in a time where meeting each other in person is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous.
The similarities between Rust and Among Us are too many to ignore. Both games have had less than stellar launch periods, but have been catapulted into the spotlight down to the efforts of Twitch streamers. It's incredible to see just how much influence Twitch streamers have and how the rise of a game's popularity on Twitch can affect sales.