Game modules have always been accompanied by the development of games, relying on the emergence and explosion of games such as "DOTA2", "PUBG", "CS:GO", and game modules have also proved their potential to create blockbusters with practice.
With the emergence of the concept of metaverse, in the face of a large number of content needs, user content production (UGC) has also gained popularity, and game mods are undoubtedly one of its best examples. In addition to bringing a steady stream of vitality to the game, the game mod has the ability to build a high-quality game community, which is also what the mod platform Mod.io has been pursuing.
Mod.io's predecessor was Mod DB (Mod DataBase), a game moding community established by Scott Reismanis and in 2002, which can be seen as a distribution platform for UGC mods designed to bring players and up-and-coming developers together into emerging PC games. By 2017, Scott had created Mod.io to continue to drive UGC's potential to serve mod studios and game publishers. By 2022, Mod.io appear in more than 100 games on PCs, consoles, and mobile devices.
Recently, Mod.io founder Scott Reismanis talked about the status of game modules in the current game industry, he said that this thing has developed together with the game itself, and major game companies have begun to pay attention to its role, and with the development of Roblox, game modules will also become the new mainstream of the future game industry.
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Game mod platform Mod.io believe that adding mods in the game has become the mainstream, and their more than 300 million mod downloads are a very good proof.
The Victoria, Australia-based company believes big game publishers are ready to embrace game mods with a more enthusiastic gesture, which is one of the reasons why the company raised $26 million from Tencent and Lego corporations last November.
Mod.io enthusiasm for modules has been echoed by many companies in the industry, such as Overwolf, which has received a $127.5 million investment. Another outstanding, of course, is Roblox, a platform for user-generated content and a $25 billion meta-universe contender.
Scott Reismanis, CEO of Mod.io, has observed 20 years of development in games and mod makers and believes mod production will be the next big event in the game industry.
Why did game mods become mainstream?
"Game studios should look at game mods this way: It's a way to build communities that allow studios to move faster and grow their businesses in a more open way." Scott said, "Game developers don't really have a community of insight, visibility, and accessibility because they always happen outside of the game, and most of them are on mod sites like ModDB and Nexus." I think that's where the gaming industry is changing right now. ”
Mod.io increased mod downloads by 250% in 2021, averaging 6 mods per second in the past year, creating a tripling the number of mods created, and in The SnowRunner game alone, players have downloaded 100 million mods.
The company has improved its community tools and will soon launch the next phase of its user-generated content platform to enable studios to embed mods and UGC deeply in their games and communities, and similarly, young people can use mods to break into the gaming industry. Scott believes that Mod and UGC are very important for the development of the game market, and studios that ignore their potential can miss out on a lot of revenue because they help keep the heat long after the game is released.
"Roblox is interesting because it allows a lot of people to learn about the beauty of game mod making, so for us, it's also one of the inspirations. I think Roblox is the 'ultimate sandbox' that dwarfs everything in the long run. At the same time, these vertically created game communities will continue to emerge, providing opportunities for players who are good at creating to show themselves. Scott believes that mods have been around for decades in history, with CS, Dota and PUBG all being the best representatives, and that game mods will also become mainstream after roblox goes public in the future.
By creating ModDB.com and Mod.io, Scott has spent 20 years in the game mod community. He predicts that by 2025, $1 in every $10 of video game consumption will go to UGC — a 400 percent increase from projected spending in 2021, which also means UGC's revenue could be as high as $25 billion.
"UGC gives players the right to speak and the opportunity to make a difference in what they can do with an uncreative game, and when such features flourish, especially when game developers allow studio teams and players to have creative features with unlimited potential, new game mechanics will begin to emerge, revolutionizing the interaction between developers and players."
How the Mod.io works
Simply put, Mod.io connect players, mod creators, and game developers. Talented mod creators upload their content to the platform, where content is reviewed by Mod.io to ensure quality, and then delivered to players via games on PCs, consoles, VR devices, and mobile devices.
Two popular modded and popular games in Mod.io are SnowRunner and Skater XL, both with deep mod integration. The Mod Creators make their mods and upload their creations to the game page for players to download and use. Filtering in the website allows players to search for mods by creator, content type, and rating, and mod content is uploaded and shared in seconds, then reviewed by Mod.io to ensure brand safety and compliance. Players can subscribe to mods for certain games and receive notifications when new mods appear.
"Once players are set up, they can play games with custom content on their own terms," Scott says, "and we've always believed that mods are the best type of content in the game, easy for players and developers to use, and combining all of this with the game's own business model is the real future." "There are about a dozen AAA games Mod.io, and they're all perfectly integrated into the game itself.
Mod.io current staff of 36 people, who do not make mods, but are committed to creating a framework that enables studios and players to use the mod platform. Scott said, "Our goal is to make the use of game mods easy to use, refined and elegant. We do this by providing plugins, a free repository, community collaboration, comments, communications, and subscriptions, and we audit game mods to ensure they are secure and compliant. ”
The company's mods have a variety of types of game mod adaptations, many PC games will use the platform's mods, Scott also stressed, "Making it easier to acquire game mods is our ultimate goal, so we want to attract a wider range of gamers, and the mobile game field is still a blue ocean to be developed." ”
There are also tools on Mod.io to monitor DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown requests, and the principles and reporting tools for their operation are shown in a very streamlined manner. Scott says Mod.io boost creator motivation by placing the highest quality content at the top of the site and attaching incentives to it.
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