《Stellar Blade》 on PC has been out for a while now, and the rave reviews, boasting a remarkable 94% approval rating, coupled with consistently high online player counts, make it clear: many are utterly engrossed.
Though the game initially launched on the PS5 last year, the PC release was eagerly awaited. Beyond the higher price of the PS5 version and the lack of a console for some, a key reason for the anticipation was the ability to use mods.
C. Eve J.
Mods, or game modifications, encompass more than just aesthetic changes like altered character models. They also include game enhancers and optimization utilities.
If you’re finding a game lacking excitement, downloading a few mods might be the perfect solution.
The same holds true for “Stellar Blade”. Despite the game’s inherent appeal, players are still embracing mods.
In a somewhat astonishing statistic, the number of mod downloads for “Stellar Blade” on its launch day surpassed the total downloads amassed by “NieR:Automata” over an eight-year period.
However, those captivated by the game’s protagonist’s beauty might have overlooked something.
**That’s the fact that the platform where they’re downloading their mods, Nexus Mods (referred to as N网), has quietly changed its ownership.**
Founder Dark0ne has stepped back, and the loyal N网 has welcomed its new owners.
This news is hard to ignore: the site’s owner retreats, and the financially-backed new owner takes control. The deja vu is reminiscent of a certain video streaming platform.
If N网 were just a minor website, it wouldn’t be news.
The issue is that N网 is one of the biggest, in other words, it’s the largest global mod website. You can find mods for almost any game here.
Notably, on February 9th of last year, the website marked a milestone with 10 billion mod downloads.
If each download were represented by a pizza, the surface area of those 10 billion pizzas would be equivalent to 15 times the size of Manhattan Island.
Manhattan Island spans approximately 59.1 square kilometers, and the land area of Macau is 33.3 square kilometers.
This means, if you were inclined to pave the ground with pizza, those 10 billion pizzas could cover Macau’s surface over 26 times, with some pizza to spare.
Macau: “Am I a unit of measurement now?”
Success stories tend to have interesting beginnings.
N网 was founded in 2001, making it 24 years old, perhaps older than a few of its users.
Many well-known sites started as fan-made creations. Similar to how Bilibili began as MikuFans, N网 originated as a fan website for “The Elder Scrolls III”. The founders were a young Robin and his friend.
As the “Elder Scrolls” IP boomed, Robin teamed up with another friend to create a larger site primarily for user uploads and sharing of mods. However, due to profit-sharing disagreements, Robin opted to work solo. Thus, N网 was born.
It’s not an attempt to hitch a ride on the hype of B站, as the events and the statements of those days resemble those of B站.
For example, in 2013, Robin stated that the website would accept corporate investment for free, but would avoid direct advertising. Bilibili also once stated, “We will never do overlaid advertisements.”
Moreover, the MOD creators on this site can earn income based on the number of downloads of their work, a form of incentive.
Currently, N网’s revenue primarily comes from premium subscribers. These subscriptions primarily affect the download speed of the mods, all other features are free. Are you familiar with the VIP members?
Such a community fueled by passion is never short of high-quality content.
As everyone knows, we have to mention “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”, when it comes to mods. Most of the mods for “Skyrim” originated on N网.
One “Skyrim” user interface enhancement mod, which greatly improved the original game’s admittedly clunky interface, has a download count of 25.71 million.
Aside from such serious mods, there are also some entertainment-oriented mods.
The Thomas the Tank Engine mod has become a common sight in various games.
Most importantly, N网 offers an extensive collection of mods that cannot be fully detailed here but attract a dedicated user base.
Some are of extremely high quality, rivaling official content, with download counts in the millions.
**So the user loyalty within this community is unusually high.**
The question then arises: Why would such a successful N网, after 24 years, sell out?
Robin’s public explanation centers on the personal toll the website took, citing health issues that affected his staff and the entire N网 ecosystem.
To “Make N网 Great Again,” he sought individuals who shared his passion for mods. He will remain involved but will no longer be the decision-making authority.
But is this the full story?
For those who have used N网 for years might know that this website, from its inception, has wrestled with the question of commercialization.
Founder Robin, as an old-school gamer, could sympathize with other gamers. In January 2013, he posted that he could have made N网 a business and sought funding from Silicon Valley investors, but he chose not to.
Over the 11 years since its founding, the total investment in the operation of the website was $10,000, which he paid out-of-pocket when he officially named the website Nexus in 2007.
For users, he was purely a generous man, at most, he would encourage a friend to become a member. But for the website itself, the situation was somewhat too idealistic.
**The price of integrity meant that N网 became popular within the gaming community, while its server infrastructure struggled to keep up with the soaring traffic.**
It’s crucial to note that the issue here is the server structure, not simply adding a few extra servers. The only viable solution, according to the report, was to create a server cluster.
This is easier said than done and comes at a considerable cost. N网 needs to purchase new servers for cluster setup and ensure that both the old and new servers operate in tandem until all data is migrated.
In short, for N网, it was an extraordinary burden.
Besides the financial drain, another issue is that N网 could no longer remain completely neutral. Sometimes, not taking a stand is also a form of taking a stand.
Gamers know that several years ago, the gaming industry favored the political correctness trend, and there was a lot of agenda pushing.
Why are the gamers so excited about the “Stellar Blade” on PC? Simply put, Korean games have more pleasing aesthetics.
Here’s the newest female protagonist of the latest AAA games.
To avoid the feeling of being let down by the games they paid for, many would download model replacements and other mods to replace the content they didn’t like.
Some were pleased, and some were not. As a result, a great deal of diverse content arose on N网, and the differences triggered intense debates.
In 2023, N网 chose to embrace diversity by banning content that undermined inclusivity and diversity. This clarified its stance.
In addition, N网 banned political mods before the US election, launched a controversial donation system, and prohibited authors from deleting already published mods.
In short, N网 made too many questionable moves.
Moreover, in today’s landscape, there’s a legal risk to creating mods.
The individual who incorporated Thomas the Tank Engine into “Skyrim” has received a legal notice from the rights holder, Mattel.
In this context, N网’s position is rather precarious.
Given the above factors, the change in ownership of N网 comes as no surprise.
Currently, N网 is controlled by a company called Chosen. You’ve likely never heard of it, as it was founded in January of this year, with a focus on acquiring and operating community-centered platforms.
However, to assume this is simply a start-up acquiring a well-established gaming community would be a grave error.
In his recent post, Robin mentioned the inclusion of key individuals, including Foledinho (Victor) and Rapsak (Marinus).
It doesn’t matter if you can’t recall their names. You just need to know that these two Danish individuals, along with N网’s new COO Nikolai Nguyen, are associated with several companies, including the game trading information website FUTBIN and eSports media outlet HLTV.
Furthermore, Chosen is associated with the Danish sports media group, Better Collective.
A network driven by affiliations is emerging.
In short, N网 is now a new toy for the Danish capital circle.
**As a component within this commercial empire, many players are questioning its future.**
This is based on the potential of the current environment, and Chosen’s intentions are concerning.
Victor previously stated on LinkedIn some comments on how game start-ups earn profits, including microtransactions, Pay-to-Play, advertising revenue, and NFTs. Any gamer will not be happy upon seeing those.
A few days ago, a foreign user found this old post and advised the other party not to implement this on N网. The other party replied that they would not do so. However, if we are to trust capital so purely, well, you might as well believe that I am a three-body person. After the incident, only time can tell.
We can only hope that N网 does not suffer a fate similar to other companies where the founder retreated or was removed from his team.
Because now, games increasingly struggle to represent the will of the majority of players, and it’s becoming more difficult for developers to create all-encompassing works.
Meanwhile, mods have become the best way for players to tailor games to their preferences.
The operations of N网 over the past few years have become increasingly unpopular. This new ownership could either accelerate its demise or potentially allow it to rejuvenate itself. Based on current public opinion among players, the latter scenario is the more likely.
Perhaps, the changes of a website are commonplace in the evolution of the internet. While the question of whether N网 can remain the utopia it once was, is still unknown.
But even if it fails, or if its edges are blunted by capital, it doesn’t matter.
As we know full well, a website might fade, but the gamers’ yearning for freedom, for creation, and for the desire to “make this game better,” will live on.
Original article, Author: Tobias. If you wish to reprint this article, please indicate the source:https://aicnbc.com/3347.html
