What's going on with Rust? Is it ever going to truly launch?

One of the benefits of Steam Early Access is that developers can use player feedback to help build up their game. Sometimes, that takes time, and in the case of Rust, a significant amount of time. However, they have revealed that they're coming out of Steam Early Access! What's more, they're giving the game a visual overhaul:

"Our visuals were a lot more neutral years ago when the reboot occurred. Visually duller, but neutral. It looked like a game built from asset store content. Then we moved away from that, replacing more and more Legacy art with our own work. We also developed tools, post processes, ocean shaders, etc. The problem was not the content created, but how all these parts of the game communicated together. There was noise."

For more info on the changes in Rust, check out this post-patch breakdown.