Valve attempted and failed to make players pay for specific mods on the Steam digital platform, particularly for "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." A few years and Valve President and Co-Founder Gabe Newell states that he believes players should pay for mods.
"Mod people create a lot of value, and we think that absolutely they need to be compensated," Newell stated in a roundtable of media which included GamesBeat. "They're creating value, and the degree to which they are not being accurately compensated is a bug in the system."
Newell further elaborated that the goal was not to tear down the traditional system where mods would always be offered for free to the players. He also explained that in the gaming industry there was no such thing as video games competing against each other.
He stated that if one game gets popular its competitors will also see a rise in profits. This economy is also reflected on Steam but not for mod creators. When one mod becomes popular, sales for the base game rise but the mod creator does not get the just compensation he or she deserves.
The issue became prominent in April 2015 when"Skyrim" was used for a trial. Mods on the Steam Workshop were no longer offered for free and players would have to purchase them in order to use them. The mod creator would receive a portion of the sales for their effort.
However, the paid mod system was taken down almost immediately after, Gamespot reported. Valve and Bethesda Softworks both tried to defend the initiative but the former later explained to the press that the feature was not working and that they did not fully understand what they were doing at the time.
Although Valve has not yet stated any concrete plans for reintroducing paid mods, Newell's statement is an indication that they will eventually. One change that is confirmed is that the Steam Greenlight program is being replaced with a new "Steam Direct" system this Spring.
Valve's most latest endeavor involves their new Steam VR platform, which uses the HTC Vive headset. The trailer for Steam VR can be viewed below: