One of the best features for PC gaming is how vibrant the modding community can be for particular games. Well, Valve sees this aspect, and has turned the modding community in the Steam Workshop into a full-fledged marketplace.
Starting off this trend will be the game with one of the most active modding communities on Steam, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Creators on Steam now have the opportunity to sell their products in order to make a bit of money off the mods they make. Price ranges start based on one’s choosing.
Even though people can still choose to give out their mods for free, users can now sell their creations for whatever amount they want. If the mod is bought, the creator will receive 25% of the charged fee, and the consumer will still have the option of refunding the item if they are dissatisfied.
Some of the mods created for Skyrim are arguably full standalone games, and Valve would love to help reward the creator for generating such high-level content. Valve released a statement saying:
“By paying for mods and supporting the people that made them, you enable those artists and creators to continue working on their mods and inspire new modders to try their hand in creating new, higher quality items and experiences.”
With the release of this new program, not everyone is happy with the idea of paying for their favorite mods. A post on Reddit related to the monetization of mods was titled “RIP PC Gaming (the beginning of the end).” Another one satirizes the sale of mods in the Steam Summer Sales, showing how prices of mods were on sale up to 25% off:
There are currently more than 24,000 mods that are free on the Steam Workshop, and with a total of 170 million downloads, there is no wonder Valve is trying to take the step forward with Skyrim mods.
Steam users do already have the ability to sell items on games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive; this will be the first time that a user is able to make money off a non-Valve produced game.
The intentions of helping content creators are there, but is this new plan headed towards the right direction?
