After 24 years, the founder of Nexus Mods – the largest gaming mod website – has stepped down from the site, citing stress-related health issues.
Launching in 2001, Nexus Mods is the de facto modding website for games; most recently, it has been home to a mass amount of NSFW Stellar Blade mods. The site's founder – Dark0ne – has been with Nexus Mods since 2001, but after 24 years, they've decided to call it a day and hand off the site to new owners.
"This isn't a decision I've made lightly – far from it – but one I think is in both my and the community's best interests." Dark0ne said, adding, "Every single day, for over two decades, I've been 'on call.'"
"The strain of being responsible for the behemoth I created has taken its toll," they continue. "The stress of the job has been a regular source of anxiety and stress-related health issues. I realised that I have been burning out, and this started to have an impact on my staff and Nexus Mods as a whole. So, I firmly believe that the best thing for the future of Nexus Mods is for me to step aside and bring in new leadership to steer the business forward with renewed energy to make Nexus Mods the modding community we all truly deserve."
Dark0ne said that they have been keen to step back for some time now, but that finding a successor "who really 'gets' the modding community the way I do" has been impossible. But now, "after months of meetings, face-to-face talks, and a whole lot of soul searching, I am thrilled to say that I truly believe I have found the exact right people for the task." The new owners are site users Foledinho and Rapsak, who Dark0ne say "have my complete trust, and I'm incredibly proud to be bringing them onboard."
Dark0ne says "behind the scenes, I've already been stepping back bit by bit," and because of this, the site shouldn't face any drastic changes now that they've departed the role. So rest assured, Nexus Mods will be there the next time a Bethesda game releases in an extremely buggy state.
