Bethesda's New Update For Skyrim Reintroduces Paid Mods Under 'Creations' Banner

Players claim same update has broken existing mods

by Liam Doolan Wed 6th Dec 2023

Bethesda's New Update For Skyrim Reintroduces Paid Mods — *Image: Bethesda*

Bethesda appears to be pushing paid mods in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim again, with a new update for the Special Edition and Anniversary Edition on Xbox and multiple other platforms.

In a post on its official website, the developer announced 'Bethesda Game Studios Creations' - a new streamlined platform that reintroduces Skyrim’s "existing Mods, Creation Club items and all-new Creations under a single Creations menu". Most notably, creators can now also apply to the 'Bethesda Game Studios Verified Creator Program' and "set prices" for their creations:

"Creators can put up their own Creations for players to enjoy, or even apply to the Bethesda Game Studios Verified Creator Program to set prices for their Creations. That’s right: become a Verified Creator and you could earn a royalty for each of your Creations sold within Skyrim Special Edition."

This is optional, but for those who are interested, Bethesda has set up an application page for creators that goes into more detail about the program and process. A section of the FAQ also explains how exactly this is different from the Creation Club:

"With Creation Club, members were hired and paid as professional contract developers. Now, Verified Creators can be professionals who earn royalties directly from the sale of their Creations, with an easier path to releasing their work."

Unfortunately, it seems players are now encountering issues with the latest update which is breaking existing mods - and there's been some uproar on websites such as Steam and Reddit as well.

It should be noted that all of the old mods that were always free in Skyrim should still remain that way, so you don't need to worry about anything changing with those. It's also expected that this same new "Creations" platform will eventually be implemented in games such as Starfield, but Bethesda hasn't officially said anything about this just yet.

What are your thoughts about paid creations being reintroduced and this new platform for mods? Let us know.

Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief.

1
themightyant
Wed 6th Dec 2023

I can see both sides of this debate.

On the one hand I have no problem with modders who spend a LOT of their time making mods wanting to make some money off that, or even turn it into a career. It may even mean more or faster-made mods if modders can make some income here. Plus having this built into the game will increase the chances more players, especially more casual players, might enjoy these mods.

On the other mods have typically always been free and this will split that group. The group aspect of the modding scene, everyone working together, is one of it's great strengths. Pricing will always be hard/high (especially if rumours are true and BGS take 70%, and the modder just 30%). Plus it lends itself to small MTX like mods over larger ones which are just inefficient by comparison for making money.

Could go either way imho. Only time will tell if this is a worthwhile endeavour.

2
abe_hikura
Wed 6th Dec 2023

Maybe im missing something but i fail to see how is this reintroducing "paid mods"? All they've done is combine the mod and creation club sections, the rules around "paid creations" doesnt seem to have changed.

The rules for the paid creations is unchanged from the creation club (can't all ready be a free mod, creations have to be vetted by Bethesda, creators are paid as freelancers and as the act of "selling" their creations, not just anybody can throw a mod on there and charge for it).

It's an unnecessary faff of a move, that only seems to exist to blur the lines between mods and creation club content, and quite probably a really stupid one but it doesn't seem to actually change anything on the whole "paid mods" front. Mods are free, content through the creation program is not.

3
MrMagic
Wed 6th Dec 2023

It's Bethesda horse armour all over again but still we have people shilling for them.

4
themightyant
Wed 6th Dec 2023

@MrMagic Rather different. Horse Armour was Bethesda themselves cutting a useful feature out of their game and reselling it. This is allowing modders to sell their creations. You may not like that but it's very different to horse armour.

@abe_hikura It's slightly different to creation club in that that service was Bethesda reaching out to mod makers and paying them to make mods. This is mod makers reaching out to Bethesda, there is potential for it to be much bigger than the old model.

5
abe_hikura
Wed 6th Dec 2023

Whilst they have the rules about turning free mods onto paid creations and dependencies I don't have a problem with this, and having "Bethesda approved content" has to be a nice addition to a modders portfolio when looking for actual work in the business (vs I make mods)

@themightyant are you sure that's true, I seem to recall you could pitch to Bethesda for creation club (I remember modders being concerned they might "do a disney", and modders complaining about being rejected)?

Maybe the "reaching out to modders" was for when they first opened the creation store so it had "stock" on day 1.

6
MrMagic
Wed 6th Dec 2023

@themightyant I wasn't making a one to one comparison. My point was that they're going to monetize mods and make the industry worse again.

7
themightyant
Wed 6th Dec 2023

@MrMagic That's fair, though debateable. Especially on console better mod support could be a good thing, currently we get mostly scraps. If it was monetised we might get more mods. I'd rather have the option of paying for something than having nothing.

@abe_hikura Just going off what Bethesda said in their press release. Perhaps there was a way for creators to reach out to them, but part of the point of the change is to drum up more support, it may be just a rebrand, but if it works and ends up with more mods, especially on console, that could be worthwhile.

8
Lyrick7
Wed 6th Dec 2023

Ah Bethesda. Just shamelessly making money off the work of there fans. Laziest developers ever.

9
rustyduck
Wed 6th Dec 2023

only thing i would buy is a beefy story/quest line.

10
xboxjapanfan
Wed 6th Dec 2023

I hate that some gamers are making mods, creating data stolen from other games. These people also generate revenue from Patreon and other sources. I hope this will not become a platform for such pirates to profit.

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