It went so well last time
A new update forThe Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimSpecial Edition has introduced “Creations”, a method through which community modders can sign up to the “Bethesda Game Studios Verified Creator Program” and then sell their work through the platform to receive royalties.
Skyrim Special Edition already had a “Creations” menu through which players could accessCreation Clubitems. These were DLC by any other name, bought using credits which in turn cost real money. Creation Club items were often developed by Bethesda themselves, but could also be made by modders in explicit partnership with Bethesda. It was Skyrim’s equivalent to Paradox sellingCities: SkylinesDLC packs of community-made buildings.
This new update combines the Creations menu together with a previously separate “Mods” menu. Anyone can upload free Creations (eg. mods), and anyone can now apply to become a Verified Creator Program for the ability to charge money. This substantially reduces the barrier to modders selling their work, and has fewer limitations on the type of content that can be sold, asBethesda explained in the announcement.
The most imminent issue of the update was that mods reliant on the Skyrim Script Extender were broken in the process. SKSE is a commonly used toolkit that allows Skyrim mods to make more ambitious changes to the base game. SKSE’s creators reacted quickly and have released an update which makes it work with the latest patch, but players will need to download the update if they want to continue using their old mods. You canfind all the SKSE builds for download here.
Does all of this mean that paid mods are also coming toStarfieldwhen its mod tools launch next year? “We are excited to bring the Verified Creator Program to as many games as possible, but we are only announcing Creations support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition/Anniversary Edition at this time,” says Bethesda’s FAQ. So, yes, in other words.
The previous attempt to launch paid mods was disastrous because many modders operate on the assumption that they’re participating in a gift economy, devoting their time for free to create something for others to enjoy with the understanding that everyone else is doing the same. This is a social contract, one that is instantly broken if someone chooses to sell their work. Similar controversies arise in fan fiction communities when an author finds a publishing deal and their work is suddenly yoinked from fic repository AO3 over night.
It’s worse in gaming communities, too, because mods are often technically dependent on the work of other mods. If one creator pulls their previously free work to place it behind a paywall, a lot of other mods can be rendered unplayable. It also substantially disincentivises generosity within the community so that shared resources designed for other modders to build upon - such as SKSE, but also texture packs and so on - become less common.
“Should mods be free on principle? No. Mods aren’t some sort of charitable donation, they’re made by skilled people who put a lot of time and effort in to what they do, and just because modding has remained free, for the most part, from the start doesn’t mean there’s some inalienable right to free mods,” he said. “That choice should be placed in the hands of mod authors, not mod users. Are there good reasons why all mods should be free? Yes, yes there are. But are there good reasons why some mods could potentially not be free? Yes, yes there are.”
