Starfield developer Bethesda has introduced paid community content and mods to its games before, and it hasn’t gone well in the past. Now, paid mods have come to its space-faring RPG – and players are review bombing it on Steam in protest.
As spotted by PCGamesN, Starfield‘s player-submitted review score has dropped down to mostly negative, and the overall reviews have dropped to mixed. Starfield is already a £59.99 premium title, and it is getting paid downloadable content (DLC) later this year. Even players who subscribe to Game Pass, where the base game is free, will have to pay for this DLC – Shattered Space – which will be available sometime later this year.
What seems to be rubbing players the wrong way is the fact that these paid mods are made by fan modders, not Bethesda staff or developers. One angry review reads, “really? Another push for curated paid mods no one asked for? Are you this desperate for modders to fix your game on a budget, instead of doing it yourself with developers on an actual payroll?”
The heart of the issue is that modders typically work off passion alone. While some do eventually get hired and make the move to professional game development, or accept donations for particularly ambitious projects, it feels to some that Bethesda is profiting off of this passion rather than properly paying for it.
“There is a simple reason why many players and modders enjoy modding their games for decades: It is done as a hobby, for players by players, without corporate responsibilites and apart from donation opportunities, without asking for or expecting monetary compensation.”
In other news, Valve is being sued for £656 million in a UK class action lawsuit that alleges the company has abused its position and caused gamers to overpay on PC games.
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