Valve has introduced paid mods to the Steam Workshop, allowing potential creators to benefit and earn money from their creations. At least that is the intention, instead the platform will only allow uploaders to take 25-percent of the total sale price; a massive difference from the 85-percent earnings creators can get from selling cosmetic items on Dota 2 (which incidentally is also owned by Valve).
Naturally, modders are still able to list their mods as free, or leave the option for users to leave a tip for however much they believe the mod is worth. The mods that are sold for a fee as also covered under a return policy, that allows customers to get their money back within 24 hours of the sale if the mod fails to work properly.
This being said, more vocal members of the PC gaming community have not been pleased with the announcement. These individuals are seeing it as a money grabbing move that brings no benefit to gamers. One issue being raised is the tiny percentage given to creators, with the rest being split between Valve and game developers. There is no mention of how the profits are being divided, but modders are able to request that at least a portion of it also goes to charity.
The larger concern happens to be that mods are now being held behind a paywall, with many now branding Valve CEO “a false god”; made in reference to how he was before considered to be the saviour of PC gaming. However, whether or not a mod requires payment to be played is currently decided by its creators; meaning that Valve still has no say in how much they cost.
Currently, only Steam Workshop mods for Skyrim are being sold for money; and that has already opened a can of worms. Whether Valve will backtrack on this feature from the fan backlash remains to be seen, although it is much too early to tell if this will have a real impact on PC gaming.
[Source: Steam]
