To me, mods represent the best work happening in video games. I’m not just saying this because these additions made it possible for me introduce anime guys Stardew Valley or site Margaret Thatcher’s grave in Skyrimbut because modding has become a central part of gaming culture and development.
In some cases, these fan-made add-ons can make a game playable or introduce essential quality of life fixes major AAA titles. Other times, a mod can change a game so that the romance system, gender markers, or character design options are more inclusive. If you can imagine a change in a game, it’s possible that a mod can bring it to life. Modders – who are developers themselves – benefit from games like Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update and Starfield. So why don’t they get what they deserve at The Game Awards?
Fan-made work – which includes modding – used to have an award category at The Game Awards. This award, called ‘Best Fan Creation’, ran from 2014 to 2016. Why does it no longer exist? Polygon reached out to Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley, and we haven’t heard from him yet, but here’s what we do know: Keighley got into trouble in the last year the award was presented.
In 2016, Keighley announced the nominations for ‘Best Fan Creation’, including two projects using Nintendo IP: a Metroid fan project called AM2R And Pokemon Uranium. Initially, fans celebrated the inclusion of these ambitious, fan-run projects. However, in the end Keighley dropped both nominations from the final show without commenting on why. There hasn’t been a similar category since.
Polygon has reached out to Nintendo for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
The idea that Nintendo intimidated Keighley into celebrating fan creations isn’t entirely out of the question. The renowned Japanese developer and publisher has developed a reputation for being extremely litigious when it comes to fan-made projects and modifications of its games. Nintendo’s legal team has issued a ruling widespread DMCA takedowns on modding sites and has even taken action against YouTubers who use modified Nintendo games in streams. Looking back, the idea that leadership at Nintendo would let a fan of an awards show platform work almost seems laughable.
But now we are left with the current unfortunate circumstances. The Game Awards now excludes all the great – and completely legal – work happening in the larger game modding scene. These days we have to make do with the vague “Best Community Support” category, which seems to focus on teams’ community managers rather than the fan communities themselves.
There are plenty of developers and publishers that support modding. Bethesda Softworks not only condones the use of mods in its games, but has even tried to monetize the work of modders with the Creation Club. Modding often plays such a central role in the legacy of Bethesda’s games that it’s a running joke within the community that the developers release rougher games with the understanding that Modders will go and solve all major problems yourself.
Bethesda isn’t the only one supporting modding. In the case of Baldur’s Gate 3 – which won the coveted Game of the Year Award in 2023 – the team at Larian Studios has updated the game to make it as easy as possible to edit and add new content. Of Stardew ValleyNot only did creator Eric Barone work to make the game as moddable as possible, but he also hired some of these creators as developers on his team for later updates.
While it may be difficult to determine what types of modding work should or should not be recognized on a national platform, I think it will only become harder for Keighley to ignore the fan-made parts of the game development sphere. The initial buzz of the “metaverse” may sound like a dull buzz two years after tech CEOs and game developers popularized the term, but user-generated content continues to play an important role in the larger gaming industry. This year Epic Games tinkered with fan-made Fall guys cards and those from Roblox Dress to impress – while not a fan game – was created for the YouTube-like platform and became a viral hit that brought a new audience to Roblox.
User-generated content is quite trendy right now, but there’s also a practical reason to recognize modders: it’s hard work.
This year Barone released the most mud-friendly version of Stardew Valleyand what I saw from the modding community was nothing short of incredible. I spoke to people who distributed and shared detailed documentation, teachers who could mentor new developers, and community members who managed Discord servers with hundreds of active users.
To me, these kinds of efforts really encapsulate the best and brightest work happening in games – something Keighley seems to stand for. So while I understand why an award category like “Best Legally Sanctioned Fan-Made Creation” might be a bit of a stretch, it would definitely be worth it to give these creators the recognition they deserve.