Game makers Valve and Bethesda Softwork's premium modding initiative was supposed to encourage more gamers to release modifications for games and to reward the community creators with paychecks for their work. That was what was supposed to happen.
Steam, Valve's digital distribution platform for video games, has housed a bustling workshop for content creators for about four years now. Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the first game included in Steam's paid modding system, has already been expanded by more than 25,000 pieces of modded content created by Steam users.
A Working Wage
Valve's decision to pay modders for their work was meant to encourage gamers to continue pumping out content, but the issue of compensation is now one of the primary points of contention.
The model very well might change, but Valve is currently taking 75 percent of the revenue from premium mods and paying out the other 25 percent to the content creators. By comparison, Google and Apple pay devs about 70 percent of app revenues and keep about 30 percent for themselves.
For the Love of Modding
While the Dean Halls of the world have rocketed to prominence for their impressive mods and big payouts, the modding scene has thrived on the love of video games.
Whether its cosmetic items like Team Fortress 2 Hats or game-changing patches like Just Cause 2's multiplayer mod, the concepts of mod/modding and modders were never dirty words in the PC gaming community.
With profits as the prize, the Steam Workshop could soon be flooded with the sort of cash grabs seen in the annals of the Google Play Store. Modding may become a dirty word, according to an open letter to Valve from Steam user and modder FilthyCasual.
"[These changes lead] to microtransaction hell," stated FilthyCasual. "Hell for consumers, and a deluge of stuff to compete against for us modders. This isn't healthy competition. It is gonna be cutthroat. Thanks again for taking the fun out of it."
Time Trials and Registration Fees
There is worry that mods that have long been free will, one morning, find themselves locked behind a pay wall. Despite Valve's massive take of the revenue, modders who hadn't sought profit in the past may find it hard to turn down money for work they have already done.
Along with pushing many Steam users away with price tags, Valve's 24-hour clock could make mods even more disenchanting. A day's time doesn't leave much room for gamers to decide if a mod is really worth keeping.
Bottom Line
Maybe Valve has already considered all of the complaints from gamers who are against paid modding. Maybe there's a long game it hasn't revealed. The bottom line is premium modding, beyond the most basic drop-what-you-want-into-my-tip-jar model, is poised to rip apart a healthy ecosystem consisting of games, gamers, and the gamers who mod.
"Thanks a bunch [Valve]," stated FilthyCasual. "You have now divided PC consumers and modders, when we used to be a pretty tight bunch."
Check out a Valve exec's reactions to the backlash surrounding paid modding, as imagined by a gamer disappointed in the system for premium mods:
