Facepunch integrated the Discord Social SDK into Rust, their multiplayer survival game, making it easier for players to find and communicate with friends directly in-game.
Key Takeaways
- Low-Friction Social Utility: Facepunch integrated Discord-powered social features into Rust, providing in-game communication to players for the first time.
- Enhanced Player Focus: Players can chat in-game without switching apps, which helps keep them immersed and less vulnerable in the high-stakes survival environment.
- Simple Implementation: Facepunch seamlessly integrated the Discord Social SDK into Rust, demonstrating how easily Unity developers can bring Discord’s social features into their games.
- Deep Community Adoption: The features caught on fast with Rust’s players, leveraging the existing, active community of more than half a million members on their official Discord Server.
A World Where Communication is Survival
Rust is an online PVP survival first-person shooter where players wake up with nothing but a rock. To survive, they must quickly collect resources, build shelter, and form relationships.
As an inherently social game where alliances and betrayals are common, communication is often a matter of life or death. As Ashley Cook, Marketing Manager at Facepunch, says, the game “brings out the worst in people, but in a fun way.”
The Goal: Integrating Critical Comms
Because Rust relies on intense player-to-player interaction, Facepunch saw integrating with Discord’s Social SDK as “integral” to the game’s evolution. Effortless in-game communication lets players stay connected without interrupting their play or jeopardizing their character's life.
Facepunch integrated Discord as Rust’s social layer and implemented key social features, including Rich Presence—which allows players to see what their friends are playing on Discord—and low-friction, in-game voice chat.
Rust is built in Unity, and Discord offers a Unity version of the Social SDK, so the implementation was seamless—surprisingly so, according to Facepunch. The team described it as "really easy to adapt... it just works pretty much instantaneously." This allowed the development team to quickly deploy a powerful social layer alongside their existing Steam integration.
Results: Seamless Comms & Deeper Immersion
The community response has been overwhelmingly positive, with players appreciating the speed and convenience. As Facepunch put it, they were "really happy with how quickly they can speak to friends without having to alt-tab…and risk themselves in game.” This directly improved player safety and retention by eliminating the risk of interrupting game flow.
Rust already had a massive existing community on their official Discord server—more than half a million of their players—so the in-game features caught on fast and caused a significant shift in how players communicate. The studio, recognizing the value of this feedback loop, encourages other developers to "communicate with your community," a principle their Discord integration now physically embodies for their players.
Ready to Build Your Community?
Like Facepunch, you can bring players closer together and make in-game communication effortless with the Discord Social SDK. Start building today.
