Baldur's Village is a massive, Baldur's Gate 3-themed mod for Stardew Valley that's so impressive it's even gotten Larian boss Swen Vincke's seal of approval. Naturally, all this goodwill has gotten D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast slinging DMCA takedown notices at the mod.
Yes, if you head over to the Nexus Mods page for Baldur's Village, you'll find that it's been "under moderation review" since March 29. A Nexus Mods rep confirmed to our friends at PC Gamer that this is, indeed, the result of a DMCA takedown notice from Wizards of the Coast. "Hopefully, this is an oversight from WotC, who often use external agencies to hunt down violating content, and they will revert their decision," the rep said. "Fingers crossed for Baldur's Village."
Baldur's Village was created by modder Xun, and adds a big map north of Pelican Town with an array of new locations themed after Baldur's Gate 3. Residents of the village include the likes of Shadowheart and Astarion, the latter being "a fully romanceable character with his own questline." The first release of the mod landed earlier in March, with further development and updates still underway ahead of this takedown.
Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, hasn't exactly been endearing itself to fans of its products over the past few years. The most notable example is probably the D&D OGL controversy, which former 5E lead designer Mike Mearls says may have rendered the venerable tabletop game permanently "uncool." Certainly, it's less than endearing for the publisher of a game all about telling your own stories to keep admonishing fans "no, not like that."
Stardew Valley player bringing a bit of Baldur's Gate 3 to ConcernedApe's farming sim, now with Larian's seal of approval, says they've played over 1,500 hours and will improve the mod.
