Steam adds premium content now, beginning with Skyrim.
Steam adds premium content now, beginning with Skyrim.
Are we focusing on community-built applications or developer-made modifications? If it’s the latter, I’m fine with that. Everyone should get fairly paid for their effort, and I’d be happy to spend a small amount for a quality modification.
Well, Isoku still has Wet and Cold available for free... It appears under his files as "Wet and Cold (free)" on the Nexus. For him, it seems like a way to contribute. I’m fine with that. What bothers me is when people take away previous free mods and turn them into paid-only items—it’s not right. Regarding the armors and weapons, I don’t care what others think; I won’t pay for them either, and I doubt most folks are up for it. The main concern is copyright issues. There’s no way someone would just copy Geralt’s armor from The Wild Hunt and sell it as a $5 mod. Valve and Bethesda should be cautious here... yet they claimed in the announcement that it’s a "free market" with no curation. I’m surprised Bethesda would go that far, given their history of silly lawsuits and arbitrary rules.
It seems promising for creators to sell directly via Steam, but it might create more problems than benefits for Valve. Users tend to be less patient with issues, bugs, and disputes when they’re paying for a product.
I see this as the biggest hurdle. When the mods are free, there is an understanding that it might not work. When it is paid, in the steam store, there is an assumption that it WILL work. There is an assumption that bugs will be fixed. And the game companies are going to be the ones to suffer, because most purchasers are likely to associate the bugs and bad mods with the game itself, not with whichever developer it was. I can also see the copyright becoming an issue. There is no point in suing people who are making free mods and don't have money to take. But once you are selling something, you are wide open for litigation. Will the Thomas the Train mod be able to stay? What about other blatant copies? Companies may try to go right after Valve/Steam or the game producer, since they are the one allowing the sale and profiting from it. The mod creators will likely have to start using a lot of their real name/info since they will be taking money. I am curious to see how this will stand up.
In theory, clean options like paying what you want are appealing to modders who put in effort and have built quality content; loyal supporters might appreciate the flexibility. In reality, it’s likely to fall short. Most people struggle more with setting prices for their work than major studios do.
Check Dota content first—it’s mostly fan-made and well-organized, with everything accessible at stores or marketplaces, often at lower prices since in-game items are removed. My main worries are: 1) How long the game remains active after launch; many drop after a few months. 2) Who will maintain quality control for mods? Since creators get paid, they should take responsibility and be ready to fix issues. 3) Modding could thrive without Steam or Valve support, which might inspire more developers to create high-quality mods for major titles instead of focusing only on indie projects. Also, games that stay relevant longer tend to earn more revenue, and it’s interesting that many top Valve releases started as mods.
I returned to PC gaming due to mods, but do I receive a refund if they clash?
I’m planning to use a music file I just downloaded. Gramaitk offers all his tracks for free, which might bring him an extra £20 from donations—something I wouldn’t have paid for otherwise. I notice cases like this and wonder what will happen if mods stop being free. It seems the illegal mod market could become worse than the pirated game trade.
The issue is that Isoku isn't releasing updates for the free version of his mod, and Chesko's Arissa mod also lacks similar support. The paid versions are at 2.0, while free ones sit at 1.4 and 1.3. I understand having both paid and free options, but it’s frustrating when the free version is outdated. It’s not illegal as long as Bethesda backs it up and promotes it publicly. Currently, the revenue split is 25% to the modder and 75% to Valve/Bethesda. Most decent modders would prefer a paid and free option or a donation link tied to their Nexus/Steamworkshop pages.