A Skyrim modder with more than 30 million downloads is pulling his work from Nexus Mods

The Skyrim modder behind some of the game's most significant mods is deleting their content from a major platform.

In the ten years since Skyrim's release in 2011, modder Arthmoor has created some of the game's most important and most popular fan-made content. Their work includes Alternate Start - Live Another Life, which allows players planning a new playthrough to start the game in a new location with a new backstory. 

There's also Open Cities, which removes the loading screens as players enter the settlements scattered around Skyrim as well as other mods that reintroduce cut content, fix quests, or improve features like smithing. Overall, Arthmoor's mods have been downloaded from popular modding platform Nexus Mods tens of millions of times. Soon, however, they'll be removing their work from the site.

Arthmoor's user bio  (via PC Gamer) now reads that "due to the recent policy changes Nexus has instituted, I have put in the request for deletion of most of my files here," telling fans that no updates or new material will be uploaded to the platform, with the exception of a couple of ongoing Unofficial Patch mods for Skyrim Special Edition and Fallout 4 made in tandem with other modders.

The decision comes in the wake of a change in Nexus Mods' policy. Last month, the site announced that it'll stop allowing creators to delete their work from its platform. That's due to its new 'Collections' feature, in the works since 2019, that will offer users curated lists of mods that can be downloaded all at the same time. 

The issue, however, is that if one mod upon which other mods in the collection hinge is deleted, the entire thing could stop working. Nexus Mods says its aim is to "make modding easier so the average user can spend less time worrying about mod conflicts and more time playing a modded game." Some modders are prepared to accept the change due to their relationship with hosting sites, but others, like Arthmoor, are keen to ensure they retain control over the content they make.

Fortunately, Arthmoor's important work won't be gone forever; all of the Bethesda Game Studios mods they've ever made are all available on another site, AFK Mods. While their work currently remains on Nexus Mods, the August 5 deadline to apply for removal has already passed, so those files likely won't remain in place for very long.

Arthmoor's work features pretty heavily on our list of the best Skyrim mods.