The Steam mods controversy has completely exploded, with Gabe Newell, the dev behind Gary’s mod, the modder whose mod got banned, and even some trolls chiming in.
Let’s start with Gabe’s responses in an impromptu AMAA. Gabe explained many terms of the paid mods, including payouts, were set by the original developers, he does not agree with censorship and exclusivity, and that Valve is reviewing their policy. You can read his most salient replies here and here, however, here is his main rationale regarding introducing paid mods in the first place.
Our view of Steam is that it's a collection of useful tools for customers and content developers.
With the Steam workshop, we've already reached the point where the community is paying their favorite contributors more than they would make if they worked at a traditional game developer. We see this as a really good step.
The option of MOD developers getting paid seemed like a good extension of that.
This follows a maelstrom of responses, including a 120,000+ something Change.org petition to remove paid mods, and a spate of fake protest mods. These fake mods are clearly meant to make a point and not actually be sold, with their high prices and poor content.
Chesko, the creator of the ‘Art of the Catch’ mod that was made unpurchaseable, chimed in in a lengthy reddit. Chesko alleges Valve and Bethesda came to him with the offer to sell the mod, and led him to believe that selling the mod using content from another mod would be OK.
Chesko did not get permission from the other modder, but the free content he used was also not required for Art of the Catch to work. As of now, the Art of the Catch has not been completely removed due to legal complications, even though Chesko has requested it.
The snowballing Steam paid mods issue may seem overly complicated, but as critic James Murff has opined, it really isn’t. Valve tries to crowdsource much of the work on the site, including curation, but in doing so, they ignore the unreliability and potential toxicity from doing so.
James argues Valve needs to get paid curators to keep paid mods (and other Steam systems) on the level. On the other hand, Garry Newman, creator of Garry’s Mod, asserts the system will eventually correct itself. Of course, he asserts that paid mods (like his) will ultimately be good for games.
What do you think Steam should do about paid mods? Valve certainly won’t be lacking for advice, but please share your thoughts with us in the comments.
