What is video game modding?

Video game modding refers to players altering an aspect of a game, whether that’s simple mods like skins or more complex ones that alter the game code itself, like introducing new levels or altering mechanics. Players that mod a game have no connection to the studio, and they often release their mods free of charge. 

History of video game modding

The practice of modding video games traces back to 1981 with the PC title, Castle Wolfenstein. A modder changed the game, replacing the Nazi characters with Smurfs and renaming it Castle Smurfenstein. Video game modding really kicked off in 1994, though, when id Software, the developers behind the PC hit Doom, gave players access to WAD files containing all the game’s assets so users could design their own levels. 

“Commercial products like Final Doom and the Master Levels were all made by users, and id even released their very own editing utilities for people to use and learn from … A vast amount of talent crafted level editors, nodes builders, maps, modifications and more.” - Doomworld  

By 1997, they expanded public access to the entire game engine, providing users with the source code. With this, id Software basically kicked off the practice of video games mods. As a result, Doom was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame and continues to earn recognition as one of the most influential and long-lasting titles in the world. 

Why do players mod?

With Doom kicking things off in the 90s, video game modding continued to gain popularity through the rest of the decade and into the 2000s with titles like Team Fortress (a mod of id Software’s Quake), Counter Strike (a mod of Valve’s Half Life), and DotA (a mod of Activision’s Warcraft 3 that also became the foundation for Riot’s League of Legends). But what was the reason behind this rise of video games mods?

For this, we need to look into the benefits of video game modding and what attracts players to this practice.

Refresh players’ favorite games

The entertainment value of a game naturally declines over time. However, video game modding is a great way to breathe new life into a game and extend its shelflife.

“Mods, by nature, are an important tool for adding replay value and the role of the mod creators in the success of digital games cannot be denied.” - Analysis of Popularity of Game Mods: A Case Study

The modding community around Final Fantasy 7 from Square Enix, for example, released the “Gaia-VII Remaster” mod in 2023 that gave the original game’s block characters a full overhaul using 3D models. This type of visual improvement brought players back to a game that was first released in 1997 - 90s graphics weren’t cutting it anymore, and this mod brought the game into the modern age to encourage players to return.

Then there’s Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines from Troika Games. The game was released in 2004 after three years of tedious development that culminated in a game that wasn’t “release-ready”. And it didn’t help that its release date coincided with the launch of Half Life 2. 

Its commercial failure isn’t the end of its story, though: Werner Spahl, a German analytical chemist and part-time modder under the username Wesp5, was fascinated with Bloodlines and took over modding the game. He provided patches, game improvements, and fixes that he relied on the player community to also help him with. What resulted was the “Unofficial Patch” that contained two versions: the Basic one that just includes bug fixes and technical improvements, and the Plus version that includes cut content and gameplay tweaks. With the latest version released in August 2024, Bloodlines is a great example of how video game modding can sustain a title - and even bring one to life if it had a rough start.

Improve the player experience

Mods are a community-based effort, which means players usually design them to directly address what they want - whether that’s an aspect of gameplay they feel could be improved, a bug they can fix, or an accessibility improvement. As a result, video game modding can improve player retention and engagement. 

For example, mods can lower the notoriously high difficulty curve of a game, like the “Assist Mode” mod for Cuphead that gives players more HP, coins, and weapons damage. Or they can offer accessibility features, like “Say the Spire” for Slay the Spire that provides a screen reader for visually impaired players. Then there are popular video games mods that introduce new textures, gameplay effects, and other types of visual effects, like the “RE Immersion - Reshade 2.0.” mod for Resident Evil 2 that made the graphics more realistic.

Practice development skills

Video game modding is a playground for new developers to practice and hone their skills - the existing game acts like a foundation for them to experiment with new features and content. And we’ve seen how players can go from modding video games to creating their own games. 

For example, Dan Salvato began with video game modding, creating a popular Super Smash Bros. Melee mod called “20XX Tournament Edition” that offered players new features to improve the existing gameplay experience. From modding, he moved to developing his own games and founding a studio called Team Salvato. One of their games - Doki Doki Literature Club - became an indie hit, selling over two million copies. 

Is video game modding legal?

The legality of video game modding is a bit of a gray area - it usually depends on whether the studio that created the game claims copyright infringement. 

“Under US copyright law, copyright holders have the exclusive right to create derivative works, which automatically makes modding an infringement of copyright.” - Amy Kang, Peter A. Allard School of Law at University of British Columbia

But developers can explicitly allow video game modding. One of the best examples of this is Bethesda Games. This studio is known for titles like Fallout, Doom, and Skyrim - which have all become popular in the video game modding community. So popular, in fact, that Bethesda has hired some of these modders for their own development team, has an entire section devoted to modding on their website, and designed the Verified Creator Program to give some creators the ability to sell their mods and earn royalties.

What is a mod in video games? Popular examples

Skyrim

Like we just mentioned, Bethesda Games is a big supporter of video game modding. And almost no other game in history best represents this than their title, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Released in 2011, mods of the game on the popular Nexus Mods website have reached a staggering 6 billion downloads.

“​​The idea of getting re-lost in Whiterun or Winterhold can take on a whole new meaning when it's you driving the recreation of that journey…some of the most downloaded Skyrim mods are so popular because dozens, hundreds, thousands, even millions of other people have also longed for that nip or tuck that changes the original formula.” - GamesRadar

There are a few reasons why it’s become the quintessential example of video game modding:

• The game has tons of content for modders to play with: Skyrim cost $100 million to make and took 5 years to complete. What resulted was a fantasy RPG with a massive library of content, including 60,000 lines of dialogue, an entire, grammatically correct dragon language, and an average session length of almost 3 hours (earning it the Most Played Game of the Year award from Raptr in 2011). All this content gives modders more to work with to create their own versions, whether that’s the “Cutting Room Floor” mod that reintroduces cut content, “RealVision ENB” for ultrarealistic graphics, or “Falskaar”, a mod that introduces over 20 hours of new gameplay, quests, and more

• Bethesda gives modders a suite of tools: Video game modding is a lot easier when a studio like Bethesda gives players official tools to help them along. With the release of the Creation Kit in 2012, Bethesda gave modders access to the same tools they used to create the game - at no cost. They’ve since done the same for their game, Starfield, releasing a Creation Kit in 2024 that shows the studio’s dedication to supporting the video game modding community and embracing its benefits for building community, increasing the longevity of their titles, and improving the player experience

• Bethesda’s existing modding community jumped to Skyrim: Since Bethesda offers modders tools and encourages the community across all of their titles, it meant a strong video game modding community existed before Skyrim was even released. So the game wasn’t starting from nothing when attracting modders - it tapped into the existing Elder Scrolls modding community, who were eager to start playing and experimenting with the latest installment of their favorite game series

“There’s a space that the creators have made, and then when you come into it you are making it better. You're giving yourself to it. And then when you put it down, you have different emotions…you feel something about yourself - you think about it when you go to bed, you come back to it when you accomplish something.” - Todd Howard, Director of Bethesda Games

Minecraft 

It’s hard to talk about video game modding without mentioning a game practically built on user-generated content: Minecraft from Mojang. It’s this community mentality and foundation that’s helped skyrocket this indie game to success, leading to Microsoft acquiring the IP rights for $2.5 billion in 2014 and consistently reaching almost 200 million monthly active users to this day.

What is it that makes Minecraft so popular?

• Different game modes for different mods: The game comes in four “flavors”: survival, creative, adventure, and spectator modes. Each of these taps into different types of player motivations, which means users build different mods, too. The thing that all of these modes have in common - and that supports video game modding - is that they preserve the sandbox-style play of Minecraft. So with endless ways to play, experiment, etc., players are encouraged to keep modifying and personalizing their experience, depending on the game mode they’re playing. For example, survival mode includes a hunger bar that depletes over time. One mod, “Apple Skin”, gives players a visualization of the hunger and saturation that food in the game will provide, like indicating a melon will provide much less saturation than a steak

• Centralized mod platform: CurseForge is the go-to site for Minecraft mods. With close to 195,000 projects uploaded at the time of this writing, it’s helped centralize video game modding for the title and allow for easier distribution. All players need to do is head to the site to see all of the available mods, including most recent mods, those based on category, and most popular. The site also provides resources and documentation on how to mod video games

• The open-ended universe encourages modding the mods: Minecraft mods aren’t just introducing new features and content - there’s a whole world of video game modding for this game that’s about making modding accessible and simplifying its development (a recent study actually showed that mods simplifying mod development are among the most popular). That’s because the game is, at its core, focused on letting users create their own universes and play the game however they want. What you end up with is a next-level type of modding, in which players want even more control of their customizations - like the “[Let’s Do] API” mod that help users modify features like boats and signs and create 3D armor

• Modders can make money: Mojang has shown their support for video game modding in a few ways. In addition to bringing modders onboard as internal developers (like they did with the Bukkit mod team to work on a Minecraft API in 2012), they launched an initiative to allow approved creators the ability to sell their mods for a fee. Called the Minecraft Partner Program, it allows players to sell their video games mods in the Minecraft Marketplace and take home a portion of the profits. And for those who aren’t ready to sell or interested in offering their mods for a fee, Minecraft’s game website also gives players extensive resources on becoming a creator and modding 

Distribute your community’s video game modding

Just allowing video game modding is one thing, but actively supporting a modding community can improve the player experience, boost revenue, and increase retention. The best way to do that is creating a modding hub in your game launcher with features like a modding marketplace and top mod spotlight. It’s similar to what Bethesda does by having a dedicated modding page on their website, and what Minecraft does with the Minecraft Marketplace. With a game launcher, you can give your players a better experience than they can get through a platform like Steam - and it means players remain within your game’s ecosystem, rather than heading to different platforms for their favorite mods. 

Talk to us today about the benefits of a game launcher and how we can help you improve the player experience while maximizing revenue with this D2C channel.