The Rust Staging Branch is a version of the game where developers stage future updates to find bugs on new content before official release. It is essentially a work in progress and is used to test new features and changes before they are implemented into the release servers. The Staging Branch features the latest code with its bug fixes, optimizations, and often the newest features. It is like a test server or the devs playpen. The Staging Version of Rust is not an additional purchase, and all players will have the program. Players can access the Rust Staging Branch if they own a copy of Rust.