And making things even more complex, mods are often distributed without consent of the original mod creator. Mod packs, groups of mods, also have legal issues. Paid mods are making this situation more complicated, as Valve Corporation found out in 2015 when over 133,000 people signed a petition to end the paid mod feature. You own what you created but your creation is infringing on the original artist’s copyright to do it unless they’ve given you the right to do it. Creating a game mod is similar to going into an art gallery, pulling a painting off the wall, and putting a painting inside of the painting. The easiest way to think about how game mods fit into the copyright scene is to think about an art gallery. RELATED: Skyrim: The 10 Best Marriage, Spouse, & Family Mods. For a game that is now a decade old, playing it with mods can keep it fresh in amazing ways. As a game modder, you own some limited copyrights in what you created but what you created is likely copyright infringement. The game that seemed to lead the way for console mods, Skyrim on PS4 introduced an amazing selection of mods, many of which make the game a lot better. Copyright lawsĪt their core, game mods are derivative works. A modification needs to run on the original work in order for the mod itself to work. The original version of a game that’s unmodified is usually referred to as the vanilla version. Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) is one of the most notable examples of a total conversion as it took the real-time strategy game, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and turned it into a MOBA (an entirely new genre).

Mods can add specific features to a game, artistic effects, offer continued support to maintain a game and even alter core parts of a game.

There are a lot of different types of mods – total conversions, overhauls, add-ons, unofficial patches, art and support mods. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as well as its predecessors, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, are examples of highly moddable games, with an official editor available for download from the developer. The only other games I can even remember getting mods for are Europa Universalis III and Victoria 2, but only because the friends I play those with prefer to play with mods. What is a game mod?Ī game modification, or game mod, alters how a video game may look or behave. Mods are intended to extend and expand gameplay and modders are the individuals or communities that provide these enhancements. A game that allows modding is said to be 'moddable'. Modding, the act of creating extensions within games and other platforms, is popular in the video game scene. Almost any game that involves combat or players exploring open worlds can have tremendous modding possibilities.

Games that can be modded