The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim came out a decade and a half ago, but it still boasts plenty of active players across all of its release versions and platforms.
A big part of that is the game’s immense modding scene, with thousands of authors continuing to pump out new releases for the game, from small quality of life changes to major story expansions. Whilst it’s the main reason that the game remains as relevant today as it does (alongside the fact we still haven’t had a sequel), even that sterling effort hasn’t been without its controversy.
If you have been following along with the evolution of mods in the developer’s games, you’ll know that quite a few popular and complete efforts by creators have become paid for via the Bethesda Creation Club. Now, it seems as though that controversial pathway isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, even with the lack of news around new releases from Bethesda themselves.
Skyrim Will Never Die
As first reported by TweakTown (via a YouTube interview with Mortismal Gaming), Todd Howard confirmed that paid mods remain a firm part of the company’s plans, and that they are generally happy with where the Creation Club is right now overall. Specifically, Howard said the following:
“I think the good news is that [Creations] is a really healthy community. I think when you go into ‘paid mods,’ and we’ve had a couple stabs at it with some success and some issues…we really like where we’re at, our creators are great, we’ve seen that kind of rise all boats.
“There’s great content here, go into the menu and check it out. We’re really, really happy with that program, with how it’s going, from the free stuff, the paid stuff, and our own stuff. I think our issue now is getting that content in front of more people, because we think it’s so good. I think we have a little bit of friction still with how our audience gets that stuff and plays it.”
It’s an interesting perspective to take given how many existing fans had a negative viewpoint on the matter, but Howard seems confident that the Creation Club remains a solid bet for filling in the content gap ahead of the release of the next Elder Scrolls game.
Paid Skyrim Mods Are A Thorny Subject
As mentioned throughout the article, and by Howard himself in the veiled reference to “friction” with their audience acquiring mods, the idea of spending real world money on content created by players remains a particularly thorny one. There are very few other examples of companies taking a similar approach, and though it won’t likely affect the potential success of The Elder Scrolls VI too much, it certainly isn’t showing signs of improving public perception any time soon.
- Released
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November 11, 2011
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
- Engine
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Creation Engine
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
