Valve adds paid modding

Cantatus · Apr 28, 2015

Mick_sl said:
I have a feeling that this will some how return to steam. Maybe only new future titles will have paid mods.

The wording definitely makes it sound like they aren't just completely throwing this out but going back to the drawing board. Considering how vehemently people were against paid mods in any fashion, I'll be really curious to see what form that takes. After this blow-up and retraction, I don't think Valve can simply apply this model to a future game like Fallout 4. I think Valve has their work cut out for them, because it's no longer just a matter of figuring out how to make paid mods a thing, but also how to sell people on it being an acceptable thing to bring to the gaming community.

Mist · Apr 28, 2015

PCMR wants to take Gaben off the banner. This is fucking serious.

Aaron · Apr 28, 2015

I just love how in the space of one week Gaben went from being PCMR's golden boy to becoming an untouchable leper. It almost made up for the real issues that were raised.

Big Phoenix · Apr 28, 2015

Bethesda Blog | An official blog for Bethesda Softworks

Revenue Sharing

Many have questioned the split of the revenue, and we agree this is where it gets debatable. We?re not suggesting it?s perfect, but we can tell you how it was arrived at.

First Valve gets 30%. This is standard across all digital distributions services and we think Valve deserves this. No debate for us there.

The remaining is split 25% to the modder and 45% to us. We ultimately decide this percentage, not Valve.

Is this the right split? There are valid arguments for it being more, less, or the same. It is the current industry standard, having been successful in both paid and free games. After much consultation and research with Valve, we decided it?s the best place to start.

This is not some money grabbing scheme by us. Even this weekend, when Skyrim was free for all, mod sales represented less than 1% of our Steam revenue.

The percentage conversation is about assigning value in a business relationship. How do we value an open IP license? The active player base and built in audience? The extra years making the game open and developing tools? The original game that gets modded? Even now, at 25% and early sales data, we?re looking at some modders making more money than the studio members whose content is being edited.

We also look outside at how open IP licenses work, with things like Amazon?s Kindle Worlds, where you can publish fan fiction and get about 15-25%, but that?s only an IP license, no content or tools.

The 25% cut has been operating on Steam successfully for years, and it?s currently our best data point. More games are coming to Paid Mods on Steam soon, and many will be at 25%, and many won?t. We?ll figure out over time what feels right for us and our community. If it needs to change, we?ll change it.

Ran by fucking retards with zero understanding of videogames, let alone modding.

Dyvim · Apr 28, 2015

It will def. return for new release games.
Its free bucks for this piece of shit industry and they wont let that go untapped.

Disgustingly the nerdragers are back to lapping up Gaben shit in the official steam thread.

iannis · Apr 28, 2015

Oh, it'll be back. Hopefully in some sort of non-retarded fashion.

I don't think valve will put in the time or salary required to police their marketplace, so their mod store is still going to be nothing but shovelware crap. But if they can take out the giant fuck you to modders, and just offer them some sort of official place to get some cash for their work I'd be fine with that too.

I'm not signing up for paypal to give you 10 bucks for a mod. It's not that you don't deserve it, it's just that I'm not going to do that. But if Steam will take it and give you 8 of it, I'm more than willing to do that.

Tuco · Apr 28, 2015

Lol @ that blog entry from bethesda. They sell their game partially on modding tools and use player mods to help them design dlc and the next game, then five years after release decide they need a cut of mod sales too.

I hope todd howard likes answering questions about "assigning value" when he announces fallout4 soon. And the part about "studio members making less than some modders" is pretty good, does that mean bethesda has profit sharong for its team?

Adebisi · Apr 28, 2015

aaron_sl said:
I just love how in the space of one week Gaben went from being PCMR's golden boy to becoming an untouchable leper. It almost made up for the real issues that were raised.

Golden boy?

He was their goddamn Jesus Gaben Christ.

Carl_sl · Apr 28, 2015

velk · Apr 28, 2015

Big Phoenix_sl said:
Bethesda Blog | An official blog for Bethesda Softworks

Ran by fucking retards with zero understanding of videogames, let alone modding.

Pfft - not a money grabbing scheme - 1% of your revenue for doing absolutely nothing is a deal that makes accountants hard.

They whine about how making the tools means they get to take a bigger cut, casually ignoring the millions of extra sales the mods have generated for their games.

Tuco · Apr 28, 2015

aaron_sl said:
I just love how in the space of one week Gaben went from being PCMR's golden boy to becoming an untouchable leper. It almost made up for the real issues that were raised.

Gabe Newell isn't an 'untouchable leper'. The community is just a bunch of Peters disowning Gabe three times before the rooster crows.

This won't "blow over", but it's not as catastrophic as people are crying about. A clueless section of Valve conspired with a clueless section of Bethesda to make a clueless move to monetize modifications and it blew up in their faces. Now that there's so much collateral damage when they try again they'll do it properly. And it can be done properly.

Gavinmad · Apr 28, 2015

Tuco_sl said:
Gabe Newell isn't an 'untouchable leper'. The community is just a bunch of Peters disowning Gabe three times before the rooster crows.

The problem with this terrible analogy is that it implies that Gabe is, in fact, the messiah of PC gaming. In reality he's just another dude out to make as much money as he can. Not quite a villain but definitely not a hero.

sukik · Apr 28, 2015

If they worked out a better split for the modder and the store had proper quality control it would be great. Unfortunately I don't think Valve is ever going to be willing to put forth the effort to curate a mod store. I think they'll just roll out the same deal for the next new Bethesda game. This mess has just been postponed.

hodj · Apr 28, 2015

Tuco_sl said:
Gabe Newell isn't an 'untouchable leper'. The community is just a bunch of Peters disowning Gabe three times before the rooster crows.

This won't "blow over", but it's not as catastrophic as people are crying about. A clueless section of Valve conspired with a clueless section of Bethesda to make a clueless move to monetize modifications and it blew up in their faces. Now that there's so much collateral damage when they try again they'll do it properly. And it can be done properly.

Agree with this until I see evidence that they haven't learned their lesson.

Kirun · Apr 28, 2015

What is the most pirated video game of all time? I think Fallout 4 may be a future contender.

While this isn't the worst thing ever, this isn't going to sit well with gamers. EverybodyknowsValve isn't willing to put forth the effort of a curated modstore (have youseenGreen Light? Ugh). So, even if they change the split (something like 50-60%% modder being the likely "best" case), you still have a metric fuckton of issues that arise out of a non-policed modstore. You'll also see most (all?) collaborative efforts get flushed down the drain once serious amounts of money are involved. It's just one of those things that never really needed a "solution" and was perfectly fine being policed by the community at large. Greedy, corporate fucks want their hands ineverypie and like usual, consumers will get to suffer for it.

Zehnpai · Apr 28, 2015

sukik_sl said:
If they worked out a better split for the modder and the store had proper quality control it would be great. Unfortunately I don't think Valve is ever going to be willing to put forth the effort to curate a mod store. I think they'll just roll out the same deal for the next new Bethesda game. This mess has just been postponed.

Honestly the only way I see it working and not creating a complete clusterfuck is going the Spotify route. You charge extra for premium support and features and split that amongst modders based on unique downloads.

If they announce plans to relaunch it in a similar form I'm just going to make a handful of adjustments to every existing mod and repost it under my name at discount. "Too poor JaySus swords? How about Zehnpai's swords complete with a little Z etched into every handle! Obviously I made it from scratch and you can get it for only a quarter of what you'd pay for Jaysus!"

iannis · Apr 28, 2015

There will have to be compromises made, to be sure. And you'll have suckmudding, to be sure.

But I can see a proactive paradigm which synergizes the modding community with the corporate interest in order to best serve the consumer with a superior product and excellent experience!

It won't be valve or anything. Their hands off approach won't do it. But I can see a company growing to fill that, what we have to admit, is a potential market. Somehow. That's very reliant on community trust. And the internet is even more fickle than a woman.

Vorph · Apr 28, 2015

Even if they come up with a way to monetize the mods in a way that people consider fair (good luck) there's still the issue that Steam Workshop is wholly unsuited for use as a mod manager for Bethesda games. Install more than a handful of mods and you will have conflicts, and Steam provides nothing whatsoever to deal with this. Unless something changed just recently, it actively interferes with what you're trying to do when you use proper mod management tools like NMM, BOSS, TES5Edit, etc.

Lenas · Apr 28, 2015

Valve should just monetize mods the way Daybreak monetizes voxels. Tag everything with an owner ID and give that person a percentage of the sale if their mod is used in other works.

Chris · Apr 28, 2015

I've missed this entire thing. Who gives a shit? Don't buy paid mods, simple, who is forcing you to?

If all mods end up being ruined with prices they will make no money and someone will make a free mod and get crazy market share.

???

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