Skyrim - Now Supports Paid Mods

Well it's official now as Bethesda and Valve now offer modders the option to sell mods for Skyrim. I wonder how this will affect the Nexus sites?. Here are the details.

We’ve had a long and excellent relationship with our good friends at Valve. We worked together to make the Workshop a huge part of Skyrim, and we’re excited that something we’ve been working together on for a long time is finally happening. You can now charge for the mods you create.

Unlike other curated games on Steam that allow users to sell their creations, this will be the first game with an open market. It will not be curated by us or Valve. It was essential to us that our fans decide what they want to create, what they want to download, and what they want to charge.

Many of our fans have been modding our games since Morrowind, for over 10 years. They now have the opportunity to earn money doing what they love – and all fans have a new way to support their favorite mod authors. We’ve also updated Skyrim and the Creation Kit with new features to help support paid mods including the ability to upload master files, adding more categories and removing filesize limit restrictions.

What does this mean for you?

As a modder, you now have the option of listing your creations at a price determined by you. Or, you can continue to share your projects for free. For those shopping for new mods, Valve is making sure you can try any mod risk free. See Refund Policy.

For full details on these changes to the Skyrim Workshop, check out Steam’s announcement page and FAQ.

Modding has been important to all our games for such a long time. We try to create worlds that come alive and you can make your own, but it’s in modding where it truly does. Thanks again for all your incredible support over the years. We hope steps like this breathe new life into Skyrim for everyone.

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More information.

Just reading the Steam page tells you how gamers feel about this decision. I eagerly await the next Fallout game, and having to pay for the best mods.

When can I pre-order Enderal - Shards of Order? if it gets it done quicker I'd pay for that. Why do people expect 'something for nothing' model to continue for ever?

Couchpotato said:

Just reading the Steam page tells you how gamers feel about this decision. I eagerly await the next Fallout game, and having to pay for the best mods.

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Because you know that's exactly what it will be. They'll call them "premium".

Aubrielle said:

Because you know that's exactly what it will be. They'll call them "premium".

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Well you have to give them credit as Bethesda found a way to make money off modders who fix their games. I bet other games will follow thier lead now.

I really like this move. Might speed up the production of some quality content based on the engine.

I guess we all expect a Fallout 4 announcement embracing fully User Generated Content at the Bethesda conference in June...

The Nexus Mod owner posted two updates about this on his various sites.

1. Modding as a hobby versus modding as a career, and the position
2. Valve/Bethesda announce paid modding for Skyrim, more games to follow

I'm not sure there's been an official announcement about the revenue split, but as there's no new information at this time, I think it's safe to assume it's 25% to the mod author, 75% to Valve/Bethesda, of which I believe 5% can go to "Service Providers" out of Valve and/or Bethesda's cut. Once again, seems that information is missing from any FAQs or documents at this time. The old axiom goes, however, "it's better to have 25% of something, than 100% of nothing".

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It seems a few modders are already selling paid mods for $1.99-$5.00.

I wholeheartedly condemn this move by Valve. It is nothing but a cash grab attempt from Valve and Bethesda, in the garb of "helping the modders". If at all they wanted to help, simply adding a donation option would have sufficed.

Making mods payable essentially divides the player base into those who are rich (and hence have access to paid premium mods) and those who can't afford to pay / not willing to pay and would have to settle on "free" mods, which in all probability would not match the quality of the paid ones (just see any App store). Down the line, more than 90% of the modders would expect players to pay some basic amount for their mods. Who can resist the free money?? Another point is, since most modders develop mods as their hobby / interest, and hence for creative satisfaction, why try to monetize that?

Modding has always been one of the strongest points in favor of PC gaming, compared to consoles. If Valve is planning to add more games for paid mod option, then this changes the entire scenario for PC gaming, and not for good. I am hoping the overwhelming negative reaction from the PC community will force Valve to reconsider their decision, or at least alter it sensibly.

I have no opinion about this yet.

I like mods for free, but there were several mods in the past I would have paid for just to say thank you. (SureAI's mods for example, I gave them money via PayPal donation).

A modding team that can earn some money could be a good start into the gaming business.

HiddenX said:

I like mods for free, but there were several mods in the past I would have paid for just to say thank you. (SureAI's mods for example, I gave them money via PayPal donation).

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No one objected on donations ever, since it solved the intended purpose without being forceful. But when you expect each and every player to compulsorily pay for a mod, then very few people would opt to use that mod.

Also, using donations, the mod creators (rightfully) get the full share. But with Valve's model, from what I understand, the mod creators will be getting only 25% of the share. Rest amount goes to Valve and the developer. So basically, you are expected to keep on paying for the game. That's just ridiculous.

I think paid mods could be good to bring new modders to the scene, as well as people putting together teams to put better quality into their mods. And I'm sure there will still be good free ones as well, from people who just want to spread their work without necessarily getting rich from it.

This might inspire new modders to make better material, so I don't think it's all doom and gloom.

SteveTownsend said:

When can I pre-order Enderal - Shards of Order? if it gets it done quicker I'd pay for that. Why do people expect 'something for nothing' model to continue for ever?

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I would buy that as a full priced game from everything I have seen. I was just at their page looking for an update on release date.

Well I don't like this as said before the donation option is better as the developer gets the full amount of money. The way it works now the seller gets a very small cut.

Frankly I wont buy any of these premium mods in the foreseeable future. The only one I might pay for is to support the developers of mods like Enderal:The Shards of Order.

Also this will just force gamers to pirate mods now, and make the future look bleak for the free mods on the Nexus sites due to new restrictions & copyright laws.

I'll buy plenty of premium mods, if they are something that interest me. Who knows, maybe this will spark more projects like Enderal: Shards of Order, if people can make a few dollars from their work.

It's never a bad thing to get paid for your work. Donations are fine, too, but I see no problem in letting people who put the work in to get paid for their work.

If you don't like it, vote with your wallet. But I think you might miss out on some good content that way.

Once again you only see the positive side of things.

As for me I see so many ways this can ruin the modding community.

This could end up being terrible, though it might end up being good particularly for some of the best modders out there who put hundreds of hours into creating their mods. I feel a *prominently placed* donation option in the Steam Workshop and on the nexus is a better solution though.

At least Steam/Bethesda are setting it so that you can get a full refund on mods within 24 hours. At the very least that should give modders less incentive to try to monetize less worthwhile or less functional offerings. If only that was Steam's normal return policy…

I'll have to wait and see. If it ends up being a nightmare, hopefully this will be a short run experiment. If this does last I would hope the 75/25 split shifts at least a little in favor of the modders then.

Couchpotato said:

Once again you only see the positive side of things.

As for me I see so many ways this can ruin the modding community.

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One thing I have learned over time is that you can either look positively at things or negatively. I try to stay positive about everything and hope for the best.

Agree to disagree, though. Don't be so afraid of change, Couch! j/k :lol:

And I do think there will still be plenty of free mods, and if not, you can get an instant refund so you aren't playing terrible mods and feeling ripped off.

Huh, interestingly one of the approved third party groups you can earmark a portion of your revenue to be given to is Nexus Mods.

While I can see wondering about whether people who previously offered mods for free will pull them to make them paid-only I wonder about another potential problem. There's now a fairly significant incentive to steal people's mods - in part or in whole - to try to sell them on the workshop. Obviously creators who are diligent can spot and report this, but if this sort of mod plagiarism becomes rampant in the paid mods sections then that could actually drive some modders to put their mods up as paid to try to head that off.

This will wreck the modding scene. Piracy is already a problem on the workshop, and Valve's response is... well, nothing.

Some modders -including one of my favorite, Elianora- have already stated that they'll never charge for their mods. Do you honestly think that'll stop some jackass from putting them up, claiming authorship, and charging for them, or stealing various resources from others mods? Valves new remedy for piracy is as toothless as expected.

Modders will either be forced to play the game to protect their work, go through the hassle of copywriting, or stop modding altogether. How many of them do you think can afford a lawyer?

Of course it's also true that most mods... suck. Steam is already filled with early access, and shovelware. Guess they want to make sure the workshop fits in with the rest of the store.

What about game breaking mods? Lets face it, a large number of people who use the workshop are.. less than sophisticated when it comes to technology. Dirty mods, save game bloat, etc. speaking of which, what about scripted mods? Will they be allowed?

Then there's the fact that many modders use student versions of software that expressly forbids using them for profit. Will steam police this? Doubtful... until a few lawsuits.

I've donated to Elianora's "coffee" fund to show my appreciation of her work, just as I've donated to the Watch to show my appreciation for what they do here. Thing is, that was my choice, and most of the money goes to the intended party.

Greed-and shoddy second, and third party software- nearly killed gaming in the past. looks like Valve and Bethesda are determined to succeed at it this go round. Hell, if companies could find some way to monetize breathing while playing their games, they'd do it. horse armor 2.0.