We’ll try to explain what Nexus Mods is doing, why it’s made those decisions, why its fans and users are troubled by it, and where things will go from here. And it’s brought a lot of pushback, as you’d expect of a PC gaming community that often reads the fine print.
Nexus Mods’ sweeping and unlimited claim to its users’ work has given many of them pause. On Thursday, the site’s staff (of 18) announced that any mod uploaded to its catalog by anyone is going to be archived there and available for distribution, permanently. So it would seem to take a lot for that kind of a community resource to get in trouble with the public it serves. From the silly to the sublime, Nexus Mods has changed games for almost 20 years. The site is vital to a vibrant PC gaming culture whose players take pride in understanding how games are developed, and use that knowledge to tailor global bestselling franchises like The Witcher and The Elder Scrolls to their simplest taste. Nexus Mods is an A-list name among PC gamers, serving a McDonald’s-like 4.5 billion downloads of user-created content, changes, and improvements.
