Rust, which celebrated its 12th anniversary last year, will introduce a kernel-level security system starting this March.

Facepunch Studios COO Alistair McFarlane announced on his social media on the 31st that starting in March, Rust will require Secure Boot and TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 2.0 for gameplay. This security system overhaul will first be applied as an optional setting for server owners, and will later be transitioned to a mandatory setting for all servers after reviewing relevant metrics.

These two elements are part of 'kernel-level security,' a security policy that has recently been spreading across competitive multiplayer games. This is at the same level as Riot Games' 'Vanguard' and the Call of Duty series' 'Ricochet,' and is also a technology required for booting Windows 11. Since both technologies verify system tampering in advance, they have the advantage of being harder to bypass than existing anti-cheat methods, and Facepunch Studios has stated its intention to put a fundamental stop to the cheat ecosystem through this.

However, as the news spread, controversy erupted in the Rust community. This is because there are ongoing concerns that users who cannot easily upgrade their hardware due to recent DRAM price hikes, as well as those using Linux and the Windows compatibility layer Proton, will inevitably be excluded. In fact, due to the impact of some anti-cheat systems, many online FPS games are difficult to play normally on the Steam Deck, leading to significant dissatisfaction.

Consequently, on communities like SNS and Reddit, cynical reactions are emerging, such as demands that "actual observed data before and after the system application should be disclosed so users can be convinced," as well as claims that "the responsibility for failing to stop cheats is being shifted to the users" and "are they abandoning gamers without money?" On the other hand, positive opinions are also being raised, such as "long-time players will likely support this policy" or "it is worth enduring if it definitely reduces cheaters."

Meanwhile, COO McFarlane added context to the strengthening of the security system, explaining, "We are aware that not all users are using hardware that supports Secure Boot and TPM 2.0, so we chose an intermediate approach first," and "The adoption rate of Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 is already quite high and is continuously increasing. These technologies are gradually becoming the standard in competitive multiplayer games."