Rust players decry ‘scummy’ decision to change ‘P2W’ community cosmetic just 2 days after its launch

The Danger Barricade cosmetic in Rust, launched in the weekly community item store, has undergone forced changes after a major exploit had players crying pay-to-win. Those who bought the skin, however, are demanding refunds from the developer after purchasing the now-changed barricade as they intended to abuse the exploit.

Unlike the existing concrete Barricade skins in Rust, the Danger Barricade’s creator Kelmolegendwas designed it so that there was a transparent part in its structure. The Danger Barricade consisted of three wooden posts with a slight gap between them. You can’t shoot between the gap of the barricade as it only gives vision—but one player was quick to find an exploit when putting two of the barricades together.

As showcased by X/Twitter user @Protox0, placing the Danger Barricade side-by-side created a small opening between which shots could be fired. As a result, sales of the barricade spiked: Over 7,000 purchases were made, with some even buying more than one skin to fill their inventory in the hopes they’d seek a profit in the future if it ever gets pulled down from the marketplace.

The “pay-to-win” aspect of the cosmetic didn’t sit well with the Facepunch Studios and it was immediately pulled down in less than two days from the item marketplace, which made many players question why the item was even featured on the item store. After pulling it down, the creator of the Danger Barricade skin updated the skin based on the developer’s request, modifying it to completely remove the transparent part of the skin and make it similar to other barricade cosmetics in the game.

Players who already own the Danger Barricade skin have the updated design in their inventory. However, many people who purchased the cosmetic felt that the developer used “scummy” tactics to change the cosmetic after it officially arrived in the marketplace. “Facepunch has to approve all skins that go up for sale and they clearly had no problem making money off the previous version since they approved it,” one player said.

Developers did provide an option for unhappy players to refund their skins within 48 hours of their purchase, but many were still upset at the change coming after developers had overlooked the exploit, leading to more calls for an option to switch off Rust cosmetics at the client side.

In the Rust marketplace, the prices of the other concrete barricades have depreciated heavily in the last few days and the Danger Barricade did exceed expectations but it wasn’t for the right reasons. This isn’t the first time the developer has been under fire because of pay-to-win skins due to transparency issues, as it has happened with multiple skins previously.