The studio behind Delta Force has been called out for lifting a visual asset from Rust and dropping it into a new season trailer that went live earlier today. Facepunch Studios COO Alistair McFarlane posted side-by-side images showing what he described as a brick of C4 and accompanying circuitry that match an in-house Rust asset. McFarlane said the Rust asset was “made full in-house” and pointed to the original artist in his post. He later confirmed that the Delta Force development team, from TiMi Studio Group, reached out to apologize and that the matter is resolved.
The clip in Delta Force’s several-minute trailer includes a close-up of an explosive device. The item matches a Rust model down to the wiring and texture. Players and creators who compared frames say the geometry and texturing line up in a way that makes a coincidence unlikely. After McFarlane posted the comparison, some commenters began scanning the trailer for other possible lifts. One mechanical spider seen in the trailer’s opening drew comparisons to an enemy from ARC Raiders. That resemblance was contested and not confirmed as a direct lift.
https://twitter.com/Alistair_McF/status/1990761720248480077
Delta Force uploaded the trailer to promote its new season. The timing is awkward. The trailer landed as the season went live, and the social post escalated the story into a public callout rather than a private production snafu. Asset reuse without permission raises questions about quality control and licensing inside big studios. Even when an apology fixes the problem, public proof of copied work can damage trust with players and with other developers whose work may be reused. Delta Force has been active this year with seasonal updates and crossplay work. For context on the game’s recent platform changes and season structure, see the Delta Force Ahsarah season story that covered console-only crossplay and native keyboard and mouse support in our earlier coverage.
There has been no public legal statement from TiMi or an official takedown notice from Facepunch beyond McFarlane’s social posts and his follow-up confirming the apology. That leaves the version of events limited to what McFarlane shared and the studio’s private outreach. Players are already debating whether an apology is enough. Some want clear credit and compensation when work is taken. Others want to see stronger internal checks so this kind of reuse does not reach marketing materials in the first place. Comments on the original social posts contain the screenshots and frame comparisons that started this thread. Those images are what backed McFarlane’s claim and pushed the conversation into public view.
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