Rust does provide an adaptive transition. Rust is very compatible with C. It’s just C++ that may need extra work (it always does, doesn’t it?). And not everything is written in C++.
Many crucial MS APIs like DirectX are under the COM interface that are language neutral. DirectX is owned by MS.
Yeah, it’s currently uncertain who is going to make Rust bindings for DirectX, whether it be MS or the Rust community again, but the COM Rust bindings generator is currently made by MS. We will know once VS 2021 is out in preview, and MS made their final choice to embrace Rust. With a giant like MS behind Rust, Rust won’t go back into its corner that fast if at all. And of course that’s important for those who already chose Rust already, too.
“We are the Rust language. Lower your shields and surrender your code. We will add your jobs and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile!”
– At Microsoft Build 2021
Jokes aside, if Rust can’t dethrone C/C++, then no language ever will. Which is fine if it manages to evolve fast enough, but the race is on.
I’m not aware that there ever was a bigger threat to C/C++ than the Rust language. One subjective view tells me that there are a large amount of Rust presentations I came across. The more actual fact that gives that away is its 4 years long streak in being the most loved language on Github and the large code base on Crate.io. Add a thousand Rust jobs at MS with DirectX bindings and the Rust written game engines will be coming ringing in. Yes, there are DX bindings in the Winapi Crate already, but they are incomplete and handwritten.
I can’t tell how many companies are behind D, Limbo, Vala etc, but Rust got many of production grade users.