Facepunch Studios has been struck in the face in a manner befitting (well, not befitting, more like not worthy) of its name…

The studio had to cancel a meeting with fans. It was to have been held during this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. Still, unfortunately, not everyone wants to please everyone, and the developers had to cancel the meeting, which was to have been held near the location of this year’s GDC. On Twitter, Facepunch announced that they received a death threat, and because of safety first, they decided not to hold the fan meeting, as the developers are human. Anyone who would have contacted them for work reasons is advised to email them with their portfolio.

Alistair McFarlane, the producer of Rust, told PCGamer that, unfortunately, such threats are common, mostly from players who take to social media to express their displeasure with changes made to the game. Another source of harassment comes from the cheating community, who don’t like developers tampering with their games in a way that prevents cheating. They have often had to change their data, as doxxing, i.e., publishing private data of developers and their families, is common in the threats.

According to McFarlane, the game’s fans (most of whom were respectful and supportive) were disappointed with Facepunch’s announcement. Still, they understood the studio’s move, but we should remember that it is not the first time, nor the last, that some amused individuals have threatened developers. For example, GSC Game World in Ukraine was in a similar situation. However, Russian people jumped on Ukrainian developers, which is disappointing given the war started by the leader of the former country.

One has to ask, though, is it not possible that some people have too much free time on their hands when they put the livelihoods of others at risk with such selfish moves?

Source: WCCFTech