Editing PC game (section)

=== Modifications ===
{{Main|Mod (video gaming)}}
The openness of the PC platform allows players to edit or modify their games and distribute the results over the [[Internet]] as "mods". A healthy mod community greatly increases a game's longevity and the most popular mods have driven purchases of their parent game to record heights.<ref name="CinemaBlend_1Jul12">{{cite web|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}}</ref> It is common for professional developers to release the tools they use to create their games (and sometimes even [[source code]]<ref name=alienswarm_sdk>{{cite web|title=Alien Swarm Game & Source SDK Release Coming Monday|url=http://store.steampowered.com/news/4081/|publisher=[[Valve Corporation|Valve]]|date=16 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="q3source">{{cite news |title=Quake 3 Source Code Released |url=http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/38305| date=August 2005 | access-date= October 22, 2006}}</ref>) in order to encourage modding,<ref name=peel12>{{cite web|title=Red Orchestra dev on mod tools: "I never understand why companies effectively block people from doing that stuff."|url=http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/red-orchestra-dev-mod-tools-i-never-understand-why-companies-effectively-block-people-doing-stuff|publisher=PCGamesN|date=8 October 2012}}</ref> but if a game is popular enough mods generally arise even without official support.<ref name=smith11>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Adam|title=Mods And Ends: Grand Theft Auto IV|url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/07/mods-and-ends-grand-theft-auto-iv/|publisher=[[Rock, Paper, Shotgun]]|date=7 October 2011}}</ref>

Mods can compete with official [[downloadable content]] however, or even outright redistribute it, and their ability to extend the lifespan of a game can work against its developers' plans for regular sequels. As game technology has become more complex, it has also become harder to distribute development tools to the public.<ref name=kalms11>{{cite web|last=Kalms|first=Mikael|title=So how about modtools?|url=http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-bad-company-2-pc/1350772-so-how-about-modtools.html|publisher=[[Electronic Arts]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923144056/http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-bad-company-2-pc/1350772-so-how-about-modtools.html|archive-date=September 23, 2010 |date=20 September 2010}}</ref>

Modding has a different connotation on consoles which are typically [[digital rights management|restricted]] much more heavily. As publicly released development tools are rare, console mods usually refer to hardware alterations designed to remove restrictions.<ref name="console_modchips">{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/21/ps2_mod_chip_win/|title=Judge deems PS2 mod chips illegal in UK|website=[[The Register]]|access-date=September 22, 2006|date=July 2004}}</ref>