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The Rebirth of PC Gaming? Bring On the Modders!

Posted by Soulskill on from the model-of-a-modder-major-general dept.

Deathspawner writes "The future of PC gaming is oft-debated, but one thing's for certain: modding has always made it better. With that, wouldn't it make sense for developers to focus more on giving the community the modding tools it needs? Further, couldn't publishers look to modding as a way to increase revenue, by allowing modders to sell their sanctioned creations? Valve already offers robust community options in its Steam platform — and already has payment processing in place. Is this the natural next step for PC gaming?"

6 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. The questions developers ask by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How much do I make off mods?
    Nothing

    And where are most of my sales?
    On consoles.

    And where are most of my pirates?
    On the PC.

    Who do modding tools benefit?
    Only the PC gamers.

    Does developing modding tools cost me?
    Yes.

    And remind me again how much I make off any given mod?
    Jack and shit. And Jack left town.

    I think I've made my decision.

    1. Re:The questions developers ask by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's the difference between a good developer and a crap dev. A good dev will put years into their product, and give a game that people truly love like an artisan spending months to years on a single piece. A crap dev will crap out a product every 6 months, make a truly forgettable game (it has to be otherwise people won't buy the next one in 6 months time!) like cheap imported furniture that is going to fall apart in a year anyway.

    2. Re:The questions developers ask by Kreigaffe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      DayZ is responsible for more sales of Arma2 than Arma2.

      --
      ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    3. Re:The questions developers ask by Shikaku · · Score: 5, Interesting

      So why is TF2 the most valuable game to Valve, when it allows modding, and also puts them on sale?

    4. Re:The questions developers ask by morari · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The Team Fortress franchise in itself started as a mod for Quake.
      Counter-Strike started out as a mod.

      --
      "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
    5. Re:The questions developers ask by Earl_Parvisjam · · Score: 5, Informative

      Games that benefit from modding off the top of my head:

      The Sims, Sims 2, Sims 3...
      Elder Scrolls Series
      Starcraft
      Halflife series
      Portal 2 (added a mod tool to stir new sales about a month ago)
      Civilization series
      Torchlight series
      World of Warcraft (heck, almost all MMO's for that matter)