Steam may still be interested in paid mods, but Bethesda seems to have drawn a line on them, at least when looking at the Fallout 4 EULA.
Fallout 4s EULA forces all mods to be released for free. I'm kind of shocked. https://t.co/dLZOI3tT35 Great news though.
— Patrick Boivin (@AngriestPat) November 2, 2015
The provision on the EULA regarding mods says as such:
Customized Game Materials must be distributed solely for free;
It’s not impossible for Bethesda to change these terms in the future, but Bethesda did go on record, as early as last June, that they had no plans to bring paid mods to Fallout 4.
We already know that Bethesda is offering their own mods toolkit, and that even Xbox One users will be able to use it. Pete Hines has gone on record that they will not be using Steam Workshop, and they have not yet decided if fan mod sites, such as Nexus, will be allowed to host or use mods as well.
Perhaps this level of caution is meant to protect Fallout 4 more than limit modders, but it’s hard not to see this as an extreme action. In any case, if paid mods ever gets embraced by the industry, it won’t be via Fallout 4.
Are you for or against Bethesda's decision to require all Fallout 4 mods to be free? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Fallout 4 will be released on November 10 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows.