The developers at Iron Gate, creators of Valheim, recently made an official announcement clarifying their perspective on game modifications, better known as mods. This came as a response to a series of questions and discussions surrounding mod creation and, more notably, the monetization of mods.
“Lately we have been getting a lot of questions regarding mods, and what we as a company approve of – as well as what we don’t approve of,” the developers stated in their announcement. They proceeded to shed light on their view of the creative community’s involvement in developing mods for Valheim. “While we don’t have any official mod support, we are definitely happy to see that people are engaging with our game and creating their own mods for it.”
However, they pointed out that their absence of official mod support means that any creation and use of mods carry inherent risks and may lack compatibility with newer versions of the game.
The announcement particularly addressed the burgeoning issue of mods that cost money. “The thing that we’ve been getting the most questions about, however, is the phenomenon where mods cost money,” the developers said. They went on to clarify that while they understood the desire for mod creators to receive financial compensation for their efforts, Iron Gate does not endorse the practice of gating modded content behind a paywall.
“We feel that charging money for a mod is against the creative and open spirit of modding itself, and therefore we urge all mod authors to make their mods freely available to all who want to play them,” they expressed. The developers further highlighted that they envision the entire mod to be freely accessible, not just portions of it.
However, the developers did note that players are welcome to show their appreciation for mod creators with voluntary donations but emphasized that payment should not be a prerequisite to access a mod.
Finally, Iron Gate urged mod creators to provide clear indications that their mods are unofficial, both in-game and on any website where the mod is available. They pointed out that this is to avoid confusion for players about whether they are playing a modded game or not.
“Valheim already has a feature for this, where you can simply have your mod trigger a popup in game, which will inform the player that their game is running with a mod,” the announcement explained.
Iron Gate concluded their announcement with a word of thanks, expressing gratitude towards the community for considering their wishes on mod creation and usage.
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