Rustbound is the first original game from Unmasked Games, the studio formerly known as Team Kanohi. It is an action RPG set in a brand-new world, and it arrives after the team’s fan project, Bionicle: Masks of Power, was forced to close.
Quick answer: Rustbound is an original action RPG from Unmasked Games. It has a first trailer, characters that resemble Bionicle figures but are changed enough to be legally distinct, and a Steam page listed under the working title Project Rustbound. No release date has been confirmed.
What Rustbound is
Unmasked Games describes Rustbound as an action RPG set in an entirely original world. The reveal trailer shows the tone and look of that world, including a mechanical figure that draws clear comparisons to Bionicle designs. Those characters have been reworked so they stand as the studio’s own creations rather than the Lego property they grew out of.
Concrete gameplay details are still thin. The studio has confirmed the genre and the setting, but it has not laid out combat systems, story specifics, or platforms for the new project.
Who is making Rustbound
The team behind Rustbound is the same group that spent eight years on Bionicle: Masks of Power. After that project ended, they rebranded from Team Kanohi to Unmasked Games and continued as an independent studio.
Over its lifetime, the earlier project drew contributions from roughly 50 to 60 people. Founder Jordan Willis began working on it at just 12 years old. Creative director Garrett Beelow has said some assets from that work had no connection to Bionicle and could carry over, giving the team a base to build something of their own.
Why Masks of Power ended and Rustbound began
Bionicle: Masks of Power was a fan-made action role-playing game built in Unreal Engine and set in the Bionicle universe. It followed the Toa as they searched for Kanohi masks, and its trailers earned praise for visuals and combat that critics compared to Devil May Cry and Nier: Automata.
Development stopped on May 17, 2025, after a meeting with The Lego Group, which asked the team to shut the project down. The team complied. The closure landed roughly three months before a planned Steam demo, and it came despite the group following Lego’s Fair-Play guidelines and never intending to earn money from the game. The team’s own read was that Lego worried the project was too easy to mistake for an official product.
Rather than walk away, the team pledged to carry its experience forward into an original game. That plan became Project Rustbound.
Masks of Power and Rustbound compared
| Detail | Bionicle: Masks of Power | Rustbound |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | Team Kanohi | Unmasked Games |
| Setting | Bionicle universe (Mata Nui) | Original world |
| Genre | Action role-playing | Action RPG |
| IP status | Fan game, unlicensed | Original IP |
| Current status | Cancelled May 17, 2025 | In development, first trailer out |
Where to follow Rustbound
The project has a Steam page, updated to show Project Rustbound as the title along with new preview images. You can follow progress and wishlist the game there.
Note: Project Rustbound is still a working title, so the store listing and name may change as development continues.
No launch window has been confirmed, and the game is likely some way off. Even so, moving from a cancelled eight-year project to a fresh trailer in a little over a year is a notable turnaround, and for fans hoping for anything in the spirit of Bionicle, Rustbound may be the closest thing on the horizon.
