Valheim developer Iron Gate Studio isn't a fan of paid mods and is urging creators to "make their mods freely available to all who want to play them".
In a post titled "Regarding Mods" on Steam, the studio shared its position on player-created content for its Viking-themed sandbox survival game. "While we don't have any official mod support, we are definitely happy to see that people are engaging with our game and creating their own mods for it," Iron Gate said, adding that it finds it "flattering" that players want to add their own ideas to the game.
But while the developer is all for mods, it's wholeheartedly against the idea of making players pay for them. "We definitely understand that you spend a lot of your time on creating a mod, and that you might want financial compensation for that, but Iron Gate does not condone locking modded content behind a paywall."
The Valheim creator goes on to explain that it feels that making mods in exchange for cash "is against the creative and open spirit of modding" and urges all modders to "make their mods freely available to all who want to play them". It clarifies that "this should include the whole mod" and discourages individuals from giving away part of their creation for free and charging money for the rest. "If you want to show your appreciation for a mod author you can of course still support them with a voluntary donation," Iron Gate adds, "but we do not want payment to be a requirement to access a mod."
Additionally, the developer asks that modders make sure their content is clearly marked as unofficial to "avoid confusion for players". It also states that using mods is done at fans' own risk, and it can't guarantee they will work with updated versions of the game.
Valheim has been available through early access on Steam since 2021, and earlier this year, it joined Xbox Game Pass alongside turn-based strategy title Civilization 6 and the mesmerising JRPG Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom. The game is exclusive to Microsoft's console for six months but don't expect it to appear on PlayStation as soon as that exclusivity period ends.
Check out our Valheim Xbox impressions for what we thought of Iron Gate's game on console.
