Editing Video game modding (section)

==Official status of mods==
Mods can extend the shelf life of games, such as ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life]]'' (1998), which increased its sales figures over the first three years of its release.  According to the director of marketing at Valve, a typical shelf-life for a game would be 12 to 18 months, even if it was a "mega-hit".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hyman |first1=Paul |title=Video game companies encourage 'modders' |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000484956 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506004712/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000484956 |archive-date=May 6, 2008 |date=April 9, 2004}}</ref> In early 2012, the ''[[DayZ (mod)|DayZ]]'' modification for ''[[ARMA 2]]'' was released and caused a massive increase in sales for the three-year-old game, putting it in the top spot for online game sales for a number of months and selling over 300,000 units for the game.<ref name="CinemaBlend_1Jul12">{{cite news|url=http://www.cinemablend.com/games/DayZ-Helps-Arma-2-Rack-Up-More-Than-300-000-Sales-44161.html|title=DayZ Helps Arma 2 Rack Up More Than 300,000 In Sales|publisher=Cinema Blend|last=Usher |first=William|date=1 July 2012|access-date=2012-07-03}}</ref> In some cases, modders who are against [[Copyright infringement|piracy]] have created mods that enforce the use of a legal game copy.<ref>{{cite news|last=Orland|first=Kyle|date=May 11, 2017|title=Pirates upset that popular graphics mod won't work for them|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/05/popular-mod-re-adds-piracy-protection-to-cracked-game/|work=[[Ars Technica]]|access-date=November 27, 2018}}</ref>

''Half-Life'' had a Valve-run annual mod expo which began in 1999, showcasing the new games built using the [[GoldSrc|''Half-Life'' engine]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Trey |title=Half-Life Mod Expo mods announced |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-mod-expo-mods-announced/1100-2875097/ |access-date=27 November 2018 |work=[[GameSpot]] |date=17 May 2006}}</ref>

Due to the increasing popularity and quality of modding, some developers, such as [[Firaxis]], have included [[fan-made]] mods in official releases of expansion packs. A similar case is that of [[Valve Corporation|Valve]], when they hired ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'' lead designer [[IceFrog]] in developing ''[[Dota 2]]''.

For example, a number of fan-made maps, scenarios and mods, such as the "Best of the Net" collection and "Double Your Pleasure", were included in the ''Civilization II'' expansion ''Fantastic Worlds'' and the ''Civilization III'' expansion ''[[Civilization III: Play the World|Play the World]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reviews.cnet.com/pc-games/civilization-iii-play-the/4505-9696_7-30742336.html|title=Civilization III: Play the World Overview|website=CNET|access-date=2 October 2017}}</ref> and in the ''Civilization IV'' expansion ''[[Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword|Beyond the Sword]]'', two existing mods, ''[[Rhye's and Fall of Civilization]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-RFC-description.php|title=Sid Meier's Civilization Mods by Rhye - Rhye's and Fall of Civilization|website=rhye.civfanatics.net|access-date=2 October 2017}}</ref> and ''Fall from Heaven'' were included with the expansion (the latter through a spin-off called ''Age of Ice''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kael.civfanatics.net/Ice.shtml|title=Fall from Heaven|website=kael.civfanatics.net|access-date=2 October 2017}}</ref>). [[Sid Meier]], who had opposed supporting mods in ''Civilization II'', said that "the strength of the modding community is ... the very reason the series survived".<ref name="jahromi20210922">{{Cite magazine |last=Jahromi |first=Neima |date=2021-09-22 |title=Sid Meier and the Meaning of "Civilization" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/sid-meier-and-the-meaning-of-civilization |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |access-date=2021-09-23}}</ref>

===Legal status of mods===
{{see also|Copyright and video games}}
Copyright law, as it relates to video games and mod packs, is an evolving and largely unsettled legal issue. The legal uncertainty revolves around which party is legally the 'copyright owner' of the mods within the pack—the company that produced the game, the end-user that created the compilation, or the creators of the individual mods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.jipel.law.nyu.edu/2016/02/the-ip-implications-of-video-game-mods/|title=The IP Implications of Video Game Mods - JIPEL Blog|website=blog.jipel.law.nyu.edu|date=17 October 2016 |access-date=2 October 2017}}</ref> Video games are protected by copyright law as a "literary work".<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |last1=Kow |first1=Yong Ming |last2=Nardi |first2=Bonnie |title=Who owns the mods? |journal=First Monday |date=3 May 2010 |volume=15 |issue=5 |doi=10.5210/fm.v15i5.2971 |language=en |doi-access= free}}</ref> In the United States context, the mechanisms of how the modder gets into the code of the game to mod it may violate the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] or the [[Computer Fraud and Abuse Act]] or even simply the [[end-user license agreement]] (EULA).<ref name="auto8"/> Most EULAs forbid modders from selling their mods.<ref name="auto5">{{cite journal |last1=Joseph |first1=Daniel James |title=The Discourse of Digital Dispossession: Paid Modifications and Community Crisis on Steam |journal=Games and Culture |volume=13 |issue=7 |date=27 February 2018 |pages=690–707 |doi=10.1177/1555412018756488|s2cid=149293423 |url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/625212/3/Joseph%20-%20The%20Discourse%20of%20Digital%20Dispossession%20.pdf}}</ref> A particular concern of companies is the use of copyrighted material by another company in mods, such as a ''Quake'' "[[Aliens vs. Predator]]" mod, which was legally contested by 20th Century Fox.<ref name="auto2"/>  Some companies, such as [[Nintendo]], discourage modding through aggressive litigation, strict EULAs and Terms and Conditions for their property.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=C. A. |title=Video game modding in the U.S. intellectual property law: Controversial issues and gaps |journal=Digital Law Journal |date=30 December 2022 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=8–31 |doi=10.38044/2686-9136-2022-3-4-8-31|s2cid=255586687|doi-access=free }}</ref> Mods themselves may introduce other copyrighted elements into video games which further complicate matters.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Some regard the fan use of copyrighted material in mods to be part of a "[[moral economy]]", and develop norms about the reuse of this material,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Postigo|first1=H.|title=Video Game Appropriation through Modifications: Attitudes Concerning Intellectual Property among Modders and Fans|journal=[[Convergence (journal)|Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies]]|date=1 February 2008|volume=14|issue=1|pages=59–74|doi=10.1177/1354856507084419|s2cid=154247452}}</ref> often settling on a system of shared ownership, where mods and code are freely shared with the common good in mind.<ref name="auto1"/> It has been argued that total conversion mods may be covered in the [[United States]] under the concept of [[fair use]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=SPARE THE MOD: IN SUPPORT OF TOTAL-CONVERSION MODIFIED VIDEO GAMES |journal=[[Harvard Law Review]] |date=January 2012 |volume=125 |issue=3 |pages=789–810 |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/vol125_spare_the_mod.pdf |access-date=2018-07-25 |archive-date=2016-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202024332/http://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/vol125_spare_the_mod.pdf }}</ref>

Modding can be compared with the [[open-source-software movement]] and [[open-source video game]] development.<ref name="auto4"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/brief-overview-of-the-differences-and-similarities-between-open-source-software-development-and-co-creation-in-digital-games-|title=Brief overview of the differences and similarities between open source software development and co-creation in digital games|first=Jedrzej|last=Czarnota|website=[[Gamasutra]]|date=2013-08-07|access-date=2023-03-11}}</ref>

In 2006, part of the reason that ''[[Second Life]]'' generated interest was how user-generated content (mods) was central to the experience, and how the [[intellectual property]] rights remained with the creator-player. This was developed by the publisher into a market.<ref>{{cite book |last1=van der Graaf |first1=Shenja |title=ComMODify |chapter=Designing for Mod Development |pages=1–2 |date=2018 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, Cham |isbn=978-3-319-61499-1 |language=en-gb|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-61500-4}}</ref>

===Controversy surrounding paid mods===
{{update section|date=July 2024}}
In April 2015, [[Valve Corporation|Valve]] implemented a "paid mod" feature onto [[Steam (service)|Steam]]; the first game to implement this feature was ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-04/24/steam-workshop-paid-mods | title = Skyrim is first game to allow paid game mods on Steam | first = Matt | last = Kamen | date = 24 April 2015 | access-date = May 4, 2015 | work = [[Wired.com]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150505192753/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-04/24/steam-workshop-paid-mods | archive-date = 5 May 2015}}</ref> The move resulted in a swift backlash from the modding community, and after an enormous influx of complaints of overpriced mods, content that had been published without its creator's consent, and concerns over mods that contained third-party copyrighted content (i.e., material that neither Valve nor the mod creator owned),{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} Valve discontinued the 'paid mod' feature entirely and agreed to refund those that spent money to purchase a mod.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.pcgamer.com/valve-has-removed-paid-mods-functionality-from-steam-workshop/ | title = Valve has removed paid mods functionality from Steam Workshop | first = Shaun | last = Prescott | date = April 27, 2015 | access-date = May 4, 2015 | work = [[PC Gamer]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://steamcommunity.com/games/SteamWorkshop/announcements/detail/208632365253244218 | title = Removing Payment Feature From Skyrim Workshop | date = April 28, 2015 | access-date = May 4, 2015 | work = [[Steam (service)|Steam]]}}</ref>  Other concerns identified included that being able to mod the game was a reason why players bought the game on PC in the first place, a worry that [[newbie]] modders would not be able to [[stand on the shoulders of giants]] by modding pre-existing mods, and that mod teams would become unworkable.<ref name="auto5"/>  The removal of the system itself was also criticized.<ref>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029183110/https://steamed.kotaku.com/some-people-are-pissed-that-skyrims-paid-mods-are-gone-1700837400 | archive-date=2018-10-29 | url= http://steamed.kotaku.com/some-people-are-pissed-that-skyrims-paid-mods-are-gone-1700837400 | title = Some People Are Pissed That Skyrim's Paid Mods Are Gone | first = Nathan | last = Grayson | date = April 28, 2015 | access-date = May 4, 2015 | work = [[Kotaku]]}}</ref>