Rust has consistently remained among the most popular games on live-streaming platforms, frequently featuring in the top 10 games per month. As the standard-bearer for the survival genre, Rust is typically an indicator of the popularity of similar games such as the breakout hit Palworld and the recently released V Rising.
In May, Rust surpassed even its own lofty expectations with its latest community event: A Twitch Drops campaign. From the 25th to the 31st of May, viewers who watched participating Rust streams on Twitch were able to unlock special skins and in-game loot. Developer Facepunch Studios partnered with top streamers to draw in the biggest crowd yet for the 29th edition of its Twitch Drops campaigns. It’s worth looking at precisely which streamers contributed to the success of this latest community event.
Rust Twitch Drops Viewership Surges Thanks To Streamer Partnerships
Despite only lasting one week, the Rust Twitch Drops event pulled in a massive 17.8M hours watched. Viewership peaked at 264K concurrent users on the first day of the campaign as viewers attempted to grab in-game loot as quickly as possible. This high first-day viewership was even strong enough to propel Rust to the number 1 most-watched game on Twitch for the 25th of May – that means it even beat out the streaming behemoth GTA V. Despite these large numbers, only 10K channels actually streamed Rust content during this time. This suggests that Facepunch Studios did an excellent job of selecting key popular streamers to draw in viewers.
Among those streamers, xQc led the way with an average minute viewership (AMA) of 48K. It was hardcore Rust streamer Trainwreckstv who brought in the highest hours watched of 1.3M, however, generating the viewership from 54 hours of airtime. The reason why these particular streamers were so popular was due to more than just their content: Facepunch Studios created exclusive streamer-specific loot that could only be obtained by watching the designated streamer. For example, Emiru viewers could obtain an assault rifle skin, while xQc viewers obtained a custom chestplate.
Facepunch Studios went further, creating specific rewards for members of the Rust-associated Discord servers Rustoria and Rust Kingdoms. This multifaceted strategy meant that diehard Rust players needed to tune in to multiple streams to collect every piece of loot – a clever strategy that no doubt contributed to the phenomenal success of the Twitch Drops campaign.
This recent event proves that Twitch Drops campaigns require intimate knowledge of one’s community to be an effective promotion strategy. Developers should take note to help with their own future events. Stream Hatchet will see if Rust can top itself with the next round of its Twitch Drops campaign in the coming months.
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