Speaking to Games Industry International, renowned indie dev Garry Newman shared the surprisingly revelation that his very-much-work-in-progress multiplayer survival sandbox title Rust "in terms of profits, from sales and royalties", "has made about 40 per cent of what GMod has made in about nine years", GMod being Garry's Mod, the popular Source Engine creation toolkit.

The success has come despite loud warnings from the developer that players shouldn't buy the Early Access offering of Rust because it would be bug and crash-ridden, but as also seen with the recent huge success of DayZ's standalone launch, the allure of an anarchic multiplayer game world is a powerful force.

On the topic of the game's DayZ inspiration, Newman is humbled and sees room for both to thrive:

Q: How is it having having DayZ standalone developing in early access alongside you?

Garry Newman: We're kind of flattered to be mentioned in the same sentence as DayZ, to be honest, because it was kind of our inspiration, it's why we started Rust in the first place. I think it being out at the same time is probably doing us more good than if it wasn't, though. Everyone who's playing Day Z now is probably hearing about Rust and a lot of them are ending up playing Rust too.

I don't think people are going to decide on just one.

Early Access for Rust can be had for US$19.99 over on Steam.