First-time Rust players likely wonder how they can change their character. Unlike many similar games, Rust doesn’t give the player a character customization screen on the first launch. Instead, they’re dropped into the game with a randomly generated character. Given the wide array of different looking people one meets when playing Rust, it would make sense that one could change the way their character looks.
Can you customize your character in Rust in 2021?
There is only one way to change characters in Rust: switch to a different Steam account. When players launch the game for the first time, a character is randomly generated and tied to their Steam ID. No amount of uninstalling and reinstalling or changing screen names will cause the character to change. However, players can create a new Steam account and use the Family Share feature to launch the game with a different Steam ID.
Unfortunately, the method above doesn’t guarantee that players will get a character they’ll like. Since there’s no character customization, it could take tens or even hundreds of tries before the game randomly generates a character that a player is shooting for.
Why can’t you change your character appearance in Rust?
According to an article from The Guardian, Lead Developer Garry Newman decided to generate characters in the game randomly. When Rust first launched into Steam Early Access in 2013, every player spawned as a bald, white male. In 2016, the current system was added to, which locks each Steam ID that plays the game into a randomly generated character.
Newman stated that he wanted to avoid spending development time on character customization and wanted players’ appearances to be consistent over time. He believes that character customization has gotten out of control and that random generation gives players a unique look that other players on a server will come to recognize.
There are no announced plans to bring character customization to Rust. So, players will have to deal with whatever character the game gives them for the foreseeable future.
