Paid mods on steam for free#

Some are calling out Valve for turning the Steam Workshop into a haven for microtransactions. Many who have signed the petition have pointed out that mods have been free for so long that it makes no sense to charge for them now. Forbes points out that the revenue split is less than those who create content for Apple, as app developers see at least 70 percent of the revenue garnered by sales. Many see this split as unreasonable, and many are calling for a more fair split of the money. The other 75 percent goes to Valve and Bethesda. According to the Steam Workshop content creator page, modders retain 25 percent of the revenue gained by the mod. Many are upset about the revenue split between modder, Steam, and Bethesda.

Paid mods on steam for free#

But the vast majority of player created content, for any game, has been given away for free to its players. While being paid for mods is nothing new, one only has to look at the Player Studio from Daybreak Game Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) to see that selling mods is a practice that is long standing. While many thought modders themselves would be universally accepting of the new policy, many creators on the Steam Workshop spoke out yesterday against the practice. As of the publication of this piece, the petition has garnered 37,000 supports, and the number is growing.

The petition, which is seeking 50,000 signatures, is over halfway to its goal in simply 24 hours of going live.

One section of the modding and gaming community doesn't see this decision as a bad thing, while others, modders included, see the selling of mods as detrimental to the industry. The decision has been met with mixed support. A petition on against Valve and Bethesda's announcement to allow modders to sell their content on Steam Workshop has received a lot of support since yesterday.