Jump to content

Video game modding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Part of a series on the
Video game industry
Development
Products
Publishing
Distribution and monetization
Related
Lists

Video game modding (short for "modifying") is the process of player and fan-authored alteration of a video game[1] and is a sub-discipline of general modding. A set of modifications is commonly called a mod and may range from small changes and tweaks to complete overhauls. Mods can introduce a variety of changes to games, including altering game graphics, fixing bugs, and adding unique gameplay elements, extending the replay value and interest of the game.[2] Modding a game can also be understood as the act of seeking and installing mods to the player's game.[3] Tweaking pre-existing settings and preferences is not considered to be modding.[1]

Mods have arguably become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games, as they add depth to the original work,[4] provide additional fun for players, and act as a means of self-expression for mod developers.[5] People can become fans of specific mods and can involve themselves in mod creation and discussion, such as requesting features and alterations.[5] In cases where modding is popular, players use the term vanilla in discussions to clarify that they are referring to the unmodified game. "Vanilla Minecraft", for example, refers to the original, unmodified game.[6]

As early as the 1980s, video game mods have also been used for the sole purpose of creating art, as opposed to a playable game. This can include recording in-game actions as a film, as well as attempting to reproduce real-life areas inside a game with no regard for game play value. This has led to the rise of artistic video game modification, as well as machinima and the demoscene.

Popular games can have tens of thousands of mods created for them.[7] In 2024, Nexus Mods, one of the biggest video game mod websites, hosted a total of 539,682 mod files, developed by 128,361 mod authors, and accrued a lifetime total of 10 billion mod downloads for 2,683 games the same year.[8] Many mods are not publicly released to the gaming community by their creators.[1]

Development

[edit]
Custom character models such as Kratos, Carl Johnson and Snow White in Guitar Hero World Tour are a popular form of modification, allowing fans to come up with their own humorous fictional crossovers.

Developing a video game mod requires a range of technical and social skills, such as programming, 3D modeling, sound design, art, and project management.[4][9] A group of mod developers may join to form a "mod team".

Mods that extensively transform gameplay are known as total conversions, with some developing into distinct games. The rights to these mods can be bought and released officially as a distinct game, for example Dota 2, which was originally a mod for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos whose rights were was acquired by Valve.[10] Mods can develop into stand-alone titles that do not require the original game to play; for example, The Forgotten City was originally a mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.[11]

A recurring trend with video game mods is the creation of user-made skins and/or character models replacing the default models, including meme or joke mods such as those replacing models with Carl Johnson from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Thomas the Tank Engine.[12] At least one modder received legal action from Thomas franchise rights owner Mattel for their unauthorised use of the Thomas the Tank Engine intellectual property in a The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim mod.[13]

Tools

[edit]

Mod-making tools originated as a variety of construction sets for creating mods for a game. Early commercial mod-making tools were the Boulder Dash Construction Kit (1986) and The Bard's Tale Construction Set (1991), which allowed users to create game designs in those series. Much more successful among early mod-making tools was the 1992 Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures from Strategic Simulations, Inc., which allowed users to construct games based on the game world that was launched with the Pool of Radiance game.

By the mid-1990s, modding tools were commonly offered with PC games,[14] and by the early 2000s, a game that launched with modding tools was considered more worthy of note in reviews than one that did.[15] Maxis released the modding tools for The Sims (2000) before the game itself, resulting in a suite of fan-created mods being available at launch.[16] The advertising campaign for Neverwinter Nights (2002) focused on the included Aurora toolset.[16] The World Editor for Warcraft III (2002) allowed a variety of custom scenarios or maps to be created for the game, such as a number of tower defense and multiplayer online battle arena maps, the most notably was Defense of the Ancients.[17][18] The provision of tools is still seen as the most practical way that a company can signal to fans that its game is open for modding.[19] Fans may also use and create open-source software tools for modding games.[20] Generative AI is expected to make developing for hobby projects easier,[21] particularly with assets such as textures and voice acting (which traditionally requires hiring capable voice actors, thereby presenting a barrier to entry for amateur mod teams), though this also led to ethical issues over its use. Voice actors have expressed concern over their voices being cloned without their consent, and they have denounced pornographic mods using their cloned voices.[22][23][24]

Websites dedicated to hosting mods are widely used by the modding community. Mod DB was founded in 2002, with over 300 million mod downloads as of 2025.[25][26][27] In 2024, 47 million members were registered with Nexus Mods, which has been in operation since 2001.[8][28]

Free content delivery tools, known as "mod managers", are available to streamline the mod installation process and aid players who are less technically literate. These tools manage downloads, updates, and mod installation. Steam's "Workshop" service, for example, allows a user to easily download and install mods in supported games within the game launcher itself.[2] Vortex, a mod manager released by Nexus Mods, is an external tool that supports modding over 65 games and is designed to work with the website.[29] Official mod managers are also created by developers alongside or in their games. For example, Baldur's Gate 3 received an update in 2024 that integrated an in-game mod manager, receiving praise for the ease-of-use.[30]

Game support for modifications

[edit]

A game that allows modding is said to be moddable, and the extent to which a game can be modded is often called its moddability.[31] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) as well as its predecessors, Morrowind (2002) and Oblivion (2006), are examples of highly moddable games, with an official editor available for download from the developer. Some modifications such as Gunslingers Academy for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy have deliberately made the game more moddable by adding scripting support or externalizing underlying code. Supreme Commander (2007) set out to be the "most customisable game ever", and as such included a mod manager which allowed for modular modding (having several mods enabled at once).

Games have varying support from their publishers for modifications but often require expensive professional software to make. One such example is Homeworld 2 (2003), which requires the program Maya to build new in-game objects. Free and even open-source modeling programs (such as Blender) can be used as well.

In general, the most moddable games will define gameplay variables in text or other non proprietary format files[32] and have graphics of a standard format, such as bitmaps.[32] Developers can also foster mod-friendliness in the way important source files are available, such as Doom separating its art assets from the main program, which allows them to be shared and modified.[16]

For advanced mods and total conversions, complicated modeling and texturing software is required to make original content. Advanced mods can rival the complexity and work of making the original game content (short of the engine itself), rendering the differences in ease of modding small in comparison to the total amount of work required. Having an engine that is, for example, easy to import models to is of little help when doing research, modeling, and making a photorealistic texture for a game item. As a result, other game characteristics such as its popularity and capabilities have a dominating effect on the number of mods created for the game by users.[citation needed]

Video game developer reception of player contribution in creating new material for games and mod-communities is varied. Some software companies openly accept and even encourage such communities, with moddability being a contributing factor to the some games' success. Others have chosen to enclose their games in heavily-policed copyright or Intellectual Property regimes (IPR) and shut down sites infringing on their ownership of a game, an action which can have a detrimental effect on the sales of the game(s) in question.[33]

Portability issues

[edit]

For cross-platform games, mods written for the Windows version have not always been compatible with the Mac OS X and/or Linux ports of the game. In large part, this is due to the publisher's concern with prioritizing the porting of the primary game itself, when allocating resources for fixing the porting of mod-specific functions may not be cost-effective for the smaller market share of alternate platforms. For example, Battlefield 1942, ported by Aspyr for Mac OS X, had file access issues specific to mods until the 1.61D patch. Unreal Tournament 2004 does not have a working community mods menu for the Mac OS X version and, until the 3369 patch, had graphics incompatibilities with several mods such as Red Orchestra and Metaball.

Also, mods compiled into platform-specific libraries, such as those of Doom 3, are often only built for the Windows platform, leading to a lack of cross-platform compatibility even when the underlying game is highly portable. In the same line of reasoning, mod development tools are often available only on the Windows platform. id Software's Doom 3 Radiant tool and Epic Games' UnrealEd are examples of this.

Mod teams that lack either the resources or know-how to develop their mods for alternate platforms sometimes outsource their code and art assets to individuals or groups who are able to port the mod.

Macologist, a mod specialist site for Macs, has created GUI launchers and installers for many UT2004 mods as well as solved cross-platform conversion issues for mods for other games.

Consequences

[edit]

In January 2005, it was reported that The Sims 2 (2004) mods that changed item and game behavior were unexpectedly being transferred to other players through the official website's exchange feature, leading to altered game behavior in unmodded games without advance warning.[34]

Mods that reveal or add nudity via modded graphics are of concern for multiple games. After the "Hot Coffee" mod incident, the games industry called for better control of modders.[35] Bethesda does not allow mods with nudity to be uploaded to its platforms. Nexus Mods allows for mods with nudity as long as nudity is not present in the preview image for the download page. One of the most popular mods of this type is Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Edition, which allows for body modification in Bethesda's Skyrim and Fallout 4 and has been downloaded at least 8.2 million times.[36] Video game mods are subject to regional legislation on pornography. Nexus Mods plans to add age verification to mods containing explicit content to comply with the Online Safety Act in the UK and Digital Services Act in the EU.[37]

Modding can act as a pathway to cybercrime.[38] In 2015, members from GTAForums, a Grand Theft Auto fan site, reported instances of malware being circulated through modifications written for Grand Theft Auto V.[39][40] Two of the modifications in question, namely "Angry Planes" and "No Clip", came with malicious code for loading a remote access tool and a keylogger for stealing Facebook and Steam account credentials. The mods were eventually removed from the website.[41]

Mods may include political messages or be discriminatory against certain groups; game developers and publishers may take actions to limit and remove these mods for their games. In 2016, Paradox Interactive took down a Steam Workshop mod for their game Stellaris which replaced non-white human characters with white ones, stating that they did not "wish to enable discriminatory practices".[42][43][44] As of 2025, EA's mod policy stated that they held the right to "address any inappropriate Mods", including those with obscene or objectionable content.[45] In the same year, the company submitted a copyright infringement notice to forums hosting a The Sims 4 mod which altered or removed representations of LGBTQ and Black people.[45][46] Additionally, mod hosting websites retain the discretion to remove potentially objectionable or divisive mods. In 2020, ahead of the United States presidential election, Nexus Mods removed a mod for Marvel Rivals which replaced the model for Captain America with one of Donald Trump, citing content that promotes "conflict, division and mob harassment" would be removed as per the website's Terms of Service.[47][48] The website removed mods that target LGBTQ representation, including a mod which removed Pride flags from Marvel's Spider-Man,[49] a mod which changed the gender of an NPC in a same-sex relationship in Baldur's Gate 3,[50] and a mod which changed the "body type" option to male/female for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.[51]

Motivations

[edit]

Motivations to engage in modding include patching the game, player and mod author expression, and to get a foot in the door of the video game industry.[5] It has been noted that these motivations encompass intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.[52] Becoming a professional is an option but not a major motivation of modders, as modders tend to have a strong sense of community. Older modders, who may already have established careers, are less motivated by the possibility of becoming professional than younger modders.[1]

The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute user created content like mods, an aspect commonly known as Web 2.0. Video game modding was described as remixing of games and can be therefore seen as part of the remix culture as described by Lawrence Lessig,[53] or as a successor to the playful hacker culture that produced the first video games.[15]

History

[edit]

One of the first games that supported user modifications as packaged was Lode Runner (1983), which included a level editor which users could make and save levels to share with other players on the same computer.[54]

id Software's Wolfenstein 3D (1992), one of the earliest first-person shooters, was released in a form that did not intend for users to be able to mod the game. Users were able to find ways to manipulate the game's files after scouring them for data locations to create their own levels and graphics. When id developed their next game, Doom, they purposely separated the game engine and other aspects related to the game's operation from the game levels and graphics, placing these into a WAD file, "WAD" short for "Where's All the Data?" In this manner, modders only needed to change the WAD file to mod the game, launching numerous Doom modding efforts.[54] id's approach of separating data file from execution files became essential for modding of future video games.[54]

Doom (1993) was the first game to have a large modding community.[35] In exchange for the technical foundation to mod, id Software insisted that mods should only work with the retail version of the game (not the demo), which was respected by the modders and boosted Doom's sales. Another factor in the popularity of modding Doom was the increasing popularity of the Internet, which allowed modding communities to form.[16] Mods for Quake (1996), such as "Capture the Flag" and "Team Fortress", became standard gamemodes in later games in the shooter genre.[35] In addition to first-person shooters, which are popular games to mod,[16] the virtual pet genre with games such as Petz (1995) and Creatures (1996) fostered younger modders, particularly girls.[55]

Official status of mods

[edit]

Mods can extend the shelf life of games, such as Half-Life (1998), which increased its sales figures over the first three years of its release. According to the director of marketing at Valve, the typical shelf-life for a game would be 12 to 18 months, even if it were a "mega-hit".[56] Valve held annual mod expo beginning in 1999, showcasing the new games built using the Half-Life engine.[57] In early 2012, the DayZ modification for ARMA 2 was released and caused a massive increase in sales for the three-year-old game, putting it in the top spot for online game sales for a number of months and selling over 300,000 units for the game.[58] In some cases, modders who are against video game piracy have created mods that enforce the use of a legal game copy.[59]

Some developers, such as Firaxis, the developer of the Civilization series, have included fan-made mods in official releases of expansion packs. A number of fan-made maps, scenarios and mods, such as the "Best of the Net" collection and "Double Your Pleasure", were included in the Civilization II expansion Fantastic Worlds and the Civilization III expansion Play the World.[60] In the Civilization IV expansion Beyond the Sword, two existing mods, Rhye's and Fall of Civilization[61] and Fall from Heaven, were included with the expansion (the latter through a spin-off called Age of Ice[62]). Series developer Sid Meier, who had previously opposed supporting mods in Civilization II, said that "the strength of the modding community is ... the very reason the series survived".[63] A similar case is that of Valve, when they hired Defense of the Ancients lead designer IceFrog for the development of Dota 2.[64]

[edit]
See also: Copyright and video games

Copyright law, as it relates to video games and mod packs, is an evolving and largely unsettled legal issue. The legal uncertainty revolves around which party is legally the copyright owner of the mods within the pack—the company that produced the game, the creators of the individual mods, or the end-user that created the compilation.[65] Video games are protected by copyright law as a "literary work".[66] In the United States context, the mechanisms of how the modder accesses code of the game may violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or the end-user license agreement (EULA).[36] Most EULAs forbid modders from selling their mods.[67] A particular concern of companies is the use of copyrighted material owned by another company in mods, such as the Quake "Aliens vs. Predator" mod, which was legally contested by 20th Century Fox.[15] Some companies, such as Nintendo, discourage modding through aggressive litigation and strict EULAs and Terms and Conditions for their property.[68]

Some regard the fan use of copyrighted material in mods to be part of a "moral economy" and develop norms about the reuse of this material,[69] often settling on a system of shared ownership, where mods and code are freely shared with the common good in mind.[66] It has been argued that total conversion mods may be covered in the United States under the concept of fair use.[70] Modding can be compared with the open-source-software movement and open-source video game development.[20][71]

In 2006, Second Life generated interest partly due to the focus of user-generated content (mods) and how the intellectual property rights remained with the creator-player. Second Life players are able to sell these items in an in-game market.[72]

[edit]

In April 2015, Valve introduced "paid mods" to the Steam Workshop as an update to the free system already in place. Mod authors received a cut of the profits from mods sold through Steam, with the percentage being determined individually by game developers. Gabe Newell, the head of Valve, expressed that paid mods would "increase the investment in quality modding", while not infringing on the need for freely distributed mods.[73] Garry Newman, whose game Garry's Mod was itself originally a mod utilizing Valve's Source engine, made a statement in favor of the update.[74] The first game to utilize the feature was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,[75] with mod authors receiving 25 percent of profit from their sales while the remainder was split between Valve and Bethesda.[76] The Workshop update resulted in a swift backlash from the modding community, with an influx of complaints of overpriced mods, content that had been published without its creator's consent, and concerns over mods that contained third-party copyrighted content (i.e., material that neither Valve nor the mod creator owned).[77][78][79] Paid mod authors were also the target of backlash, with some receiving death threats and harassing comments.[80] A Change.org petition was launched to remove the feature, garnering over 130,000 signatures.[79] Just a week after its announcement, Valve discontinued the paid mod feature entirely and agreed to refund those that spent money to purchase a mod.[81][82] The removal of the system itself was also criticized.[83]

In 2022, Electronic Arts updated their policy to disallow "money transactions of any type" for independently distributed paid mods for The Sims 4.[84] Criticisms of the change came from Sims 4 creators and mod authors, who often sold mods through an early access model on crowdfunding websites, such as Patreon, and released completed mods for free. The policy was later updated to allow paid mods using the early access model while still prohibiting completed mods sold with an explicit paywall.[84][85]

On December 5, 2023, Bethesda replaced their Creation Club with Creations, a new system for free and paid mod hosting and distribution within their titles such as Skyrim. Reception of the system was widely negative.[86] In 2024, Bethesda implemented the system with the release of Starfield and received similar negative reception, with criticisms of the price, the harm on the community, and the practice of abandoning free mods in favor of pushing paid updated versions.[87]

In 2024, Nexus Mods clarified their policies regarding the hosting of paid mods, including disallowing mods that require other paid mods as a prerequisite as well as lite/demo versions of externally hosted paid mods, citing that paid modding is "in direct conflict" with their goal of making modding easy.[77]

As of 2025, mod authors can create and sell mods for various titles through game developer-created channels, including Bethesda's Verified Creators Program for their games and InZOI's Creation Marketplace.[78] Authors can also accept donations for their mods independently on monetization platforms, such as Patreon and Ko-fi, avoiding EULA restrictions which prohibit direct sale of mods.[9] Mod uploaders on Nexus Mods can earn "donation points", which they can trade in for real-world currency sourced from a donated pool. Over $12 million has been paid to top creators on the platform since 2018.[9][88]

Types

[edit]

Total conversion

[edit]
Main article: List of video games derived from mods

A total conversion is a mod of an existing game that replaces virtually all of the artistic assets in the original game, and sometimes core aspects of gameplay.[89] Total conversions can result in a completely different genre from the original.

The Half-Life modding community splintered across the different total conversions available, often modding for a particular total conversion rather than Half-Life in general.[16] Examples of famous total conversions include Counter-Strike (1999), whose developers were hired by Valve to create a standalone version,[90] Defense of the Ancients (2003), which was the first MOBA to have sponsored tournaments,[89] and Garry's Mod (2006), for which fans created thousands of game modes over its decade-long development.[90]

Many popular total conversions are later turned into standalone games, replacing any remaining original assets to allow for commercial sale without copyright infringement. Some of these mods are even approved for sale while using the IP of the original game, such as Black Mesa.[91]

Overhaul

[edit]

An overhaul mod significantly changes an entire game's graphics and gameplay, usually with the intent to improve on the original, but not going as far as being a completely different experience. This can also include adding revised dialog and music.

Examples of overhaul mods include Deus Ex: Revision, which was given permission from its publisher, Square Enix, to release on Steam alongside the original game,[92] and GTA 5 Redux, which improves the original game's textures, adds a new weather system, and adjusts visual effects, the wanted system, weapons, and vehicle handling.[93]

Randomizer

[edit]

Randomizers are a type of user mod that keep the fundamental gameplay but randomize elements of the game to make it more of a challenge. Randomizers came out of the speedrunning community which had exhausted the challenge of racing through the game with one of the earliest being for The Legend of Zelda around 2015. In the Zelda randomizer, the mod moved the location of the dungeons, the layout of these dungeons, and the location of enemies in a random but procedurally generated manner (similar to roguelikes) based on a numerical seed, so that speedrunners would have to overcome these new changes.[94] Their popularity grew as randomizer playthroughs were popular with streaming media.[95] Some games have offered official randomizer modes in the game itself, such as Cassette Beasts in 2023,[96] or in downloadable content, including Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night in 2020,[97] and Axiom Verge in 2021.[98]

Add-on

[edit]

An add-on or addon is a typically small mod which adds to the original content of a specific game. In most cases, an add-on will add one particular element to a game, such as a new weapon in a shooting game, a new unit or map in a strategy game, a new vehicle or track in a racing game, items in a game like Minecraft or Terraria, or additional content in simulation games (such as new pilotable airplanes, e.g., the Airbus A330 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner). An example of a mod that adds functionality to augment or enhance a players experience is ComputerCraft, a Minecraft mod that adds programmable computers and robots to allow the player to automate tasks in-game. This can be accomplished without changing any of the original game's existing content. Many games are flexible and allow this, however that is not always the case. Some add-ons occasionally have to replace in-game content, due to the nature of a peculiar game engine. It may be the case, for example, that in a game which does not give a player the option to choose their character, modders wishing to add another player model will simply have to overwrite the old one. A famous example of this type of mod can be found for the Grand Theft Auto series wherein modders may use downloadable tools to replace content (such as models) in the game's directory. The Left 4 Dead series can also be modded with individual add-ons which are stored in a .VPK format, so that a player may choose to activate a given mod or not. Mods for the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series typically replace pro skaters with custom equivalents,[99] and in some cases add them as well as custom maps made from scratch or converted from other games.

Unofficial patch

[edit]

An unofficial patch is a mod of an existing game that fixes bugs in a game or unlocks content normally inaccessible in official gameplay. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 has an unofficial patch which adds and fixes many of its features.[100] Unofficial patches can reveal cut content from released games, whose files can be left in the game's code. An example is the Hot Coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which unlocks a sexually explicit minigame not accessible in the game's original release.[35] As a result of the mod, the ESRB changed the rating of GTA:SA from Mature (M) to Adults Only (AO).[101] In the fourth quarter of 2005, Rockstar released a "clean" version of the game with the "Hot Coffee" scenes removed, and the rating of the game was reverted to its original Mature rating.[102] In May 2006, a similar event occurred with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.[35]

Art mod

[edit]

An art mod is a mod that is created for artistic reasons. Art mods are most frequently associated with video game art. Modified games that retain their playability and are subject to more extensive mods (i.e. closer to total conversions) may also be classified as art games.[103] One example is the Velvet-Strike mod for Counter Strike, in which the players spray paint anti-violence messages in multiplayer games as a form of performance art. In Robert Nideffer's Tomb Raider I and II patches, the unofficial Nude Raider patch of the late 1990s was alluded to and subverted by altering the main character's sexual orientation.[104] The 1983 mod Castle Smurfenstein is a humorous subversion of Castle Wolfenstein which replaces the Nazi guards with Smurfs.[105] The very first art mod is generally considered to be Iimura Takahiko's 1993 AIUEOUNN Six Features (a modification of Sony's "System G").[103][104]

Support continuation by mod

[edit]

Games no longer supported by developers and publishers can be maintained and improved by player-made mods. After EA lost its license with Major League Baseball and ended support for MVP Baseball 2005, the game's modding community continues to support it by releasing updated roster lists and graphics every year, along with creating alternative baseball leagues (e.g. MVP Caribe, a total conversion) in the game.[106][107][108] In 2011, IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover, released to mixed reviews due to bugs and other gameplay issues; modders created multiple mods to fix these issues and later received source code access, culminating in an official re-release under the name IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover BLITZ Edition.[109] Following the closure of Ion Storm, the source code to Daikatana was released to a select group of modders, who led the version 1.3 patch and ported the game to MacOS, Linux and FreeBSD.[110]

Some online video games are made playable after their discontinuation by modders. Examples include BattleForge, Need for Speed: World, and The Crew.[citation needed]

User interface mod

[edit]

A user interface mod changes parts of how players interact with the game,[20] and commonly, mods to the UI reveal information that the player or modder believes is helpful in playing the game.[53][example needed]

Mod packs

[edit]

Mod packs are groups of mods put into one package for download, often with an auto-installer. A mod pack's purpose is to make it easier for the player to install and manage multiple mods.[111] Mod packs may be created with the purpose of making the original game more accessible to new players or to make the game more challenging for veteran players.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Poor, Nathaniel (24 September 2013). "Computer game modders' motivations and sense of community: A mixed-methods approach". New Media & Society. 16 (8): 1249–1267. doi:10.1177/1461444813504266. S2CID 39280896.
  2. ^ a b Letzter, Rafi (21 July 2015). "Online communities are changing video games to make them better, weirder, and much more wonderful". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  3. ^ Olson, Cheryl K.; Kutner, Lawrence A.; Warner, Dorothy E.; Almerigi, Jason B.; Baer, Lee; Nicholi, Armand M.; Beresin, Eugene V. (July 2007). "Factors Correlated with Violent Video Game Use by Adolescent Boys and Girls". Journal of Adolescent Health. 41 (1): 77–83. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.01.001. PMID 17577537.
  4. ^ a b Postigo, Hector (October 2007). "Of Mods and Modders". Games and Culture. 2 (4): 300–313. doi:10.1177/1555412007307955. S2CID 143727901.
  5. ^ a b c Sotamaa, Olli (July 2010). "When the Game Is Not Enough: Motivations and Practices Among Computer Game Modding Culture". Games and Culture. 5 (3): 239–255. doi:10.1177/1555412009359765. S2CID 59364177.
  6. ^ Gould, Elie (2025-01-09). "After 15 years, Minecraft has finally added two new pig variations: The warm pig and the cold pig, meaning I can delete one mod off my list". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  7. ^ Dey, Tapajit; Massengill, Jacob Logan; Mockus, Audris (16 October 2016). "Analysis of Popularity of Game Mods". Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts. pp. 133–139. doi:10.1145/2968120.2987724. ISBN 978-1-4503-4458-6. S2CID 12003615.
  8. ^ a b Wolens, Joshua (2024-02-08). "The world's biggest mod site pops the cork on 10 billion downloads and $7 million-worth of payouts: 'If every download were a footstep, you could walk to the Moon 11 times'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  9. ^ a b c Antonelli, William. "It's easier than ever to turn video game modding into a career". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  10. ^ Reilly, Jim (May 11, 2012). "Valve, Blizzard Reach DOTA Trademark Agreement". Game Informer. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  11. ^ "An Australian Skyrim Mod Has Won A Screenwriting Award". Kotaku Australia. October 17, 2016. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Mathur, Moulik (2023-09-08). "Armored Core 6 Modders Thought It Was a Great Idea to Add Thomas the Tank Engine after CJ from GTA". IGN India. Archived from the original on 2024-03-24. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  13. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (2019-05-15). "Thomas the Tank engine mod got Skyrim player in legal trouble". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2024-07-12. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  14. ^ Burger-Helmchen, Thierry; Cohendet, Patrick (October 2011). "User Communities and Social Software in the Video Game Industry". Long Range Planning. 44 (5–6): 317–343. doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2011.09.003.
  15. ^ a b c Coleman, Sarah; Dyer-Witheford, Nick (2007). "Playing on the digital commons: collectivities, capital and contestation in videogame culture". Media, Culture & Society. 29 (6): 934–953. doi:10.1177/0163443707081700. S2CID 154832086.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Lukkanen, Tero (2005). Modding scenes: Introduction to user-created content in computer gaming (PDF). Hypermedia Laboratory Net Series. Vol. 9. Tampere: University of Tampere. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2018.
  17. ^ Walbridge, Michael (12 June 2008). "Analysis: Defense of the Ancients - An Underground Revolution". www.gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  18. ^ "How Warcraft 3's modding community paved the way for League of Legends and Dota 2". PCGamesN. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  19. ^ Poretski, Lev; Arazy, Ofer (25 February 2017). "Placing Value on Community Co-creations: A Study of a Video Game 'Modding' Community". Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing. ACM. pp. 480–491. doi:10.1145/2998181.2998301. ISBN 978-1-4503-4335-0. S2CID 18600910.
  20. ^ a b c Scacchi, Walt (2011). "Modding as an Open Source Approach to Extending Computer Game Systems". Open Source Systems: Grounding Research. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. Vol. 365. pp. 62–74. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-24418-6_5. ISBN 978-3-642-24417-9. S2CID 8934352.
  21. ^ Lumb, David (4 May 2024). "Generative AI Is Coming for Video Games. Here's How It Could Change Gaming". CNET. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  22. ^ Stokes, Ian (2021-04-20). "Witcher 3 mod uses AI to create new voice lines without Geralt's original voice actor". gamesradar. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  23. ^ Donovan, Imogen (2023-07-07). "Video game voice actors denounce NSFW mods using AI deepfakes of their voices". NME. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  24. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (2023-12-22). "The Witcher Voice Actor Doug Cockle Calls AI 'Inevitable' but 'Dangerous'". IGN Africa. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  25. ^ Nelson, Will (2021-10-11). "Changing the game: an interview with Scott Reismanis - the founder of ModDB". NME. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  26. ^ "About Us". Mod DB. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
  27. ^ "Downloads". Mod DB. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
  28. ^ Hall, Charlie (2020-10-01). "Nexus Mods bans political content in the lead-up to the November election". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  29. ^ "Vortex". Nexus Mods. Nexus Mods. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
  30. ^ Lorich, Megan (2024-12-21). "Baldur's Gate 3 is Living Proof That More Games Need Official Mod Managers". Game Rant. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  31. ^ Litchfield, Ted (2025-02-18). "Blockchain-based space survival MMO EVE Frontier has a free trial running, with CCP hoping you'll take a chance on its 20,000 star systems, more tactical combat, and 'dark sci-fi Pinocchio story'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  32. ^ a b Sihvonen, Tania (2011). "Cultural and Commercial Appropriation". Players Unleashed!: Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 37–86. ISBN 978-90-8964-201-1. JSTOR j.ctt46mt37.5.
  33. ^ Flew, Terry and Humphreys, Sal (2005) "Games: Technology, Industry, Culture" in Terry Flew, New Media: an introduction (second edition), Oxford University Press, South Melbourne 101-114.
  34. ^ Knight, Will (7 January 2005). "Supernatural powers become contagious in PC game". New Scientist. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
  35. ^ a b c d e Sotamaa, Olli (3 September 2007). "On modder labour, commodification of play, and mod competitions". First Monday. 12 (9). doi:10.5210/fm.v12i9.2006.
  36. ^ a b Kretzschmar, Mark; Stanfill, Mel (17 July 2018). "Mods as Lightning Rods". Social & Legal Studies: 096466391878722. doi:10.1177/0964663918787221. S2CID 149824659.
  37. ^ Hansford, Amelia (2025-07-02). "Top video game modding website to put adult content behind age checks". PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  38. ^ National Crime Agency (2017). "Pathways Into Cyber Crime".
  39. ^ Seppala, Timothy (15 May 2015). "A few 'GTA V' mods are installing malware on PCs". Engadget. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  40. ^ Rad, Chloi (2015-05-14). "Grand Theft Auto 5 Mods 'Angry Planes' and 'NoClip' Infected With Virus". IGN. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  41. ^ Chalk, Andy (14 May 2015). "GTA 5 mods Angry Planes and No Clip contain malware". PC Gamer. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  42. ^ Hall, Charlie (2016-05-24). "Paradox removed a Steam mod that eliminates non-whites from Stellaris". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  43. ^ Chalk, Andy (2016-05-25). "Stellaris mod that makes all humans "European" is back on the Steam Workshop". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  44. ^ Orland, Kyle (2016-05-25). "Paradox's removal of Stellaris' "Whites Only" mod draws controversy [Updated]". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  45. ^ a b Yzola, Alana. "EA Tried to Stop an 'Anti-DEI Mod' for 'The Sims 4'—but More Keep Surfacing". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  46. ^ "There are now "anti-DEI" mods infesting The Sims 4". AV Club. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  47. ^ Cruz, Christopher (2025-01-09). "'Marvel Rivals' Has a Donald Trump Problem". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  48. ^ Morics, Peter (2020-10-02). "Nexus Mods Bans Mods Based On U.S. Politics". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  49. ^ Grayson, Nathan; Klimentov, Mikhail; Michel, Jamal (2022-08-19). "'Spider-Man' modification scene turns into Pride flag battlefield". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  50. ^ Thomas, Kyle (2023-12-06). "Controversial Baldur's Gate 3 Mod Removed". Game Rant. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  51. ^ Chalk, Andy (2025-04-25). "Nexus Mods decides to allow an Oblivion Remastered mod that changes 'body type' options to male/female, declares it's not 'a battleground for broader cultural or political debates'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  52. ^ Thiel, Sarah-Kristin; Lyle, Peter (3 June 2019). "Malleable Games - A Literature Review on Communities of Game Modders" (PDF). Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Communities & Technologies - Transforming Communities. pp. 198–209. doi:10.1145/3328320.3328393. ISBN 978-1-4503-7162-9. S2CID 150367691.
  53. ^ a b Scacchi, Walt (3 May 2010). "Computer game mods, modders, modding, and the mod scene". First Monday. 15 (5). doi:10.5210/fm.v15i5.2965.
  54. ^ a b c Voorhees, Gerald (2014). "Chapter 31: Shooting". In Perron, Bernard (ed.). The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. Taylor & Francis. pp. 251–258. ISBN 978-1-136-29050-3.
  55. ^ Denton, Abby (12 January 2018). "Artificial life finds a way: the legacy of Creatures". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  56. ^ Hyman, Paul (April 9, 2004). "Video game companies encourage 'modders'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 6, 2008.
  57. ^ Walker, Trey (17 May 2006). "Half-Life Mod Expo mods announced". GameSpot. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  58. ^ Usher, William (1 July 2012). "DayZ Helps Arma 2 Rack Up More Than 300,000 In Sales". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  59. ^ Orland, Kyle (May 11, 2017). "Pirates upset that popular graphics mod won't work for them". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  60. ^ "Civilization III: Play the World Overview". CNET. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  61. ^ "Sid Meier's Civilization Mods by Rhye - Rhye's and Fall of Civilization". rhye.civfanatics.net. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  62. ^ "Fall from Heaven". kael.civfanatics.net. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  63. ^ Jahromi, Neima (2021-09-22). "Sid Meier and the Meaning of "Civilization"". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  64. ^ Biessener, Adam (October 13, 2010). "Valve's New Game Announced, Detailed: Dota 2". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  65. ^ "The IP Implications of Video Game Mods - JIPEL Blog". blog.jipel.law.nyu.edu. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  66. ^ a b Kow, Yong Ming; Nardi, Bonnie (3 May 2010). "Who owns the mods?". First Monday. 15 (5). doi:10.5210/fm.v15i5.2971.
  67. ^ Joseph, Daniel James (27 February 2018). "The Discourse of Digital Dispossession: Paid Modifications and Community Crisis on Steam" (PDF). Games and Culture. 13 (7): 690–707. doi:10.1177/1555412018756488. S2CID 149293423.
  68. ^ Lee, C. A. (30 December 2022). "Video game modding in the U.S. intellectual property law: Controversial issues and gaps". Digital Law Journal. 3 (4): 8–31. doi:10.38044/2686-9136-2022-3-4-8-31. S2CID 255586687.
  69. ^ Postigo, H. (1 February 2008). "Video Game Appropriation through Modifications: Attitudes Concerning Intellectual Property among Modders and Fans". Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 14 (1): 59–74. doi:10.1177/1354856507084419. S2CID 154247452.
  70. ^ "SPARE THE MOD: IN SUPPORT OF TOTAL-CONVERSION MODIFIED VIDEO GAMES" (PDF). Harvard Law Review. 125 (3): 789–810. January 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  71. ^ Czarnota, Jedrzej (2013-08-07). "Brief overview of the differences and similarities between open source software development and co-creation in digital games". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  72. ^ van der Graaf, Shenja (2018). "Designing for Mod Development". ComMODify. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. pp. 1–2. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61500-4. ISBN 978-3-319-61499-1.
  73. ^ Orland, Kyle (2015-04-27). "Gabe Newell addresses controversy over paid Steam mods". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  74. ^ Prescott, Shaun (2015-04-27). "Garry's Mod creator weighs in on paid mods". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  75. ^ Kamen, Matt (24 April 2015). "Skyrim is first game to allow paid game mods on Steam". Wired.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  76. ^ Machkovech, Sam (2015-04-23). "Steam Workshop lets users sell mods, but only shares 25 percent of revenue". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  77. ^ a b Writer, Mark Warren Senior Staff (2024-10-30). "Nexus Mods updates its stance on paid mods for the first time since Bethesda's latest attempt at them, says it believes "modding should be a pursuit of passion first and foremost"". VG247. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  78. ^ a b Stanton, Rich (2024-10-30). "World's biggest modding site announces new paid mods policies, with caveats—'as long as it isn't to the detriment of the free modding ecosystem'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  79. ^ a b Moore, Bo. "Valve Nixes Paid Skyrim Mods After Huge Backlash". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  80. ^ Hillier, Brenna (2015-04-28). "Paid mods creator received "death threats, attacks and hateful comments"". VG247. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  81. ^ Prescott, Shaun (April 27, 2015). "Valve has removed paid mods functionality from Steam Workshop". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  82. ^ "Removing Payment Feature From Skyrim Workshop". Steam. April 28, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  83. ^ Grayson, Nathan (April 28, 2015). "Some People Are Pissed That Skyrim's Paid Mods Are Gone". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2018-10-29. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  84. ^ a b "EA Changes Sims 4 Paid Mod Rules After Fan Backlash". Kotaku. 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  85. ^ "EA rules all Sims 4 mods must be available 'in full for free'". www.gameshub.com. 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  86. ^ Cryer, Hirun (2023-12-06). ""Disappointed" Skyrim modders pledge to never charge for their creations after Bethesda resurrects paid mod shop". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  87. ^ Rossi, José V. (2024-10-14). "Starfield Fans Still Aren't Happy About the Creation Club". Game Rant. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  88. ^ Livingston, Christopher (2018-05-22). "Nexus Mods launches reward system for modders, seeds it with $100,000". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  89. ^ a b "8 of the Coolest Total Conversion Mods Ever Made". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  90. ^ a b Donnelly, Joe (2017-02-10). "Best total conversion mods". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  91. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (2013-11-20). "Valve gives Black Mesa permission to be a commercial product". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  92. ^ Robertson, Adi (2015-10-13). "A massive overhaul for the original Deus Ex is now available on Steam". The Verge. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  93. ^ Pereira, Chris (2016-09-20). "That Gorgeous GTA 5 Graphics Overhaul Mod Is Finally Available". GameSpot. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  94. ^ Harris, John (February 2, 2016). "What Happens When You Randomize The Legend Of Zelda". Kotaku. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  95. ^ White, Scott (December 3, 2019). "How "randomizers" are breathing new life into old games". Ars Technica. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  96. ^ Miller, Des (2023-04-26). "Cassette Beasts Review". RPG Fan. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  97. ^ Van Allen, Eric (4 May 2020). "Bloodstained Adds a New Character and Randomizer Mode, But Switch Players Have to Wait". US Gamer. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  98. ^ Prescott, Shaun (14 January 2021). "Axiom Verge just got a surprise Randomizer mode". PC Gamer.
  99. ^ Warren, Mark (2025-07-11). "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 drops in full today, so of course a modder already has Mary Poppins poppin' kickflips". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 2025-07-12. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  100. ^ "JJ2+ (last updated October 30, 2013)". 2013-11-01. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  101. ^ "San Andreas rated AO, Take-Two suspends production". GameSpot. CNET Networks. 2005-12-14. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
  102. ^ "FTC Hot Coffee ruling scalds, but doesn't burn Take-Two". GameSpot. CNET Networks. 2006-06-08. Archived from the original on July 8, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
  103. ^ a b Cannon, Rebecca. "Meltdown" from Videogames and Art (Clarke, Andy and Grethe Mitchell, eds.). Bristol: Intellect Books. Pp.40-42. 2007. ISBN 978-1-84150-142-0
  104. ^ a b Stalker, Phillipa Jane (2006-11-15). Gaming in art: A case study of two examples of the artistic appropriation of computer games and the mapping of historical trajectories of "Art Games" versus mainstream computer games (PDF) (MSc thesis).
  105. ^ Bogacs, Hannes (February 2008), Game Mods: Design, Theory and Criticism, Vienna University of Technology - Design and Assessment of Technologies Institute
  106. ^ "Nine Years Later, Latin America's Leagues Keep MVP Baseball Alive". Kotaku. 2013-12-22. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
  107. ^ Lindbergh, Ben (April 14, 2015). "'MVP Baseball … 2015'? How the Best Baseball Video Game Ever Has Refused to Retire for 10 Years". Grantland.com. Another factor in MVP's favor: The game allows greater access to its innards than most titles. [...] 2K's failure to match MVP's approval rating despite several years of running unopposed on the PC market, made MVP the go-to game for modders even as it lost its looks relative to 2K and The Show. The community's support peaked from 2005 through the first PC edition of 2K in 2009, tailed off for a time, and then ramped up again once Take-Two abandoned the PC market in 2013 and canceled 2K entirely last year. A decade of EA development made MVP the best baseball game on the PC market in 2005, and a decade of amateur development has helped it keep that title in 2015.
  108. ^ "Open Source Breathes New Life Into 'MVP Baseball 2005' Video Game". Archived from the original on 2016-01-31.
  109. ^ Luke Plunkett (2018-02-28). "Mods Saved A Game, So They're Now An Official Product". kotaku.com.
  110. ^ Dawe, Liam (2016-07-20). "You can play controversial FPS 'Daikatana' on Linux now, thanks to a fan patch endorsed by John Romero". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  111. ^ "modpack - definition - English". Glosbe. Retrieved 2 October 2017.

Further reading

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Video_game_modding&oldid=1302920492"