{"id":1044965,"date":"2026-01-17T15:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=483684"},"modified":"2026-01-17T15:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:11:45","slug":"modders-deserve-recognition-at-the-game-awards-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/modders-deserve-recognition-at-the-game-awards-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Modders deserve recognition at The Game Awards, too"},"content":{"rendered":"
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To me, mods represent some of the best work happening in video games. I don\u2019t just say this because these additions have allowed me to introduce anime boys to Stardew Valley<\/em><\/a> <\/em>or put Margaret Thatcher\u2019s grave<\/a> in Skyrim<\/em>, but because modding has become a central part of gaming culture and development. <\/p>\n

In some cases, these fan-made add-ons can make a game playable or introduce vital quality-of-life fixes for major AAA titles<\/a>. Other times, a mod can change a game so that its romance system, gender markers, or character design options are more inclusive. If you can imagine a change in a game, it\u2019s possible a mod could bring it to life. Modders \u2014 who are developers in their own right \u2014 have worked on games like Stardew Valley\u2019<\/em>s 1.6 update<\/a> and Starfield<\/em><\/a>. So why don\u2019t they get their due at The Game Awards<\/a>?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fan-made work \u2014 which modding falls into \u2014 used to have an award category at The Game Awards. Called \u201cBest Fan Creation,\u201d this accolade ran from 2014 to 2016. Why does it no longer exist? Polygon reached out to Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley and we have yet to hear back from him, but here\u2019s what we do know: Keighley ran into some trouble the final year the award ran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2016, Keighley announced the nominations for \u201cBest Fan Creation,\u201d and they included two projects that used Nintendo IP: a Metroid fan project called AM2R <\/em>and Pok\u00e9mon Uranium<\/em>. Initially, fans celebrated the inclusion of these ambitious fan-run projects. However, in the end, Keighley cut both nominations from the final show<\/a> without giving any comment as to why. Since then, there has been no similar category.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Polygon reached out to Nintendo for comment and will update this story when we hear back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The idea that Nintendo intimidated Keighley out of celebrating fan creations isn\u2019t entirely out of the question. The renowned Japanese developer and publisher has cultivated a reputation of being extremely litigious when it comes to fan-made projects and mods of its games. Nintendo\u2019s legal team has issued widespread DMCA takedowns on modding sites<\/a> and has even taken action against YouTubers who use modded Nintendo games<\/a> in streams. Looking back, the idea that leadership at Nintendo would let an award show platform fan work does seem almost laughable. <\/p>\n

But now we\u2019re left with the current unfortunate circumstances. The Game Awards now excludes all the stellar \u2014 and completely legal \u2014 work that\u2019s happening in the larger game modding scene. Today, we have to make do with the nebulous category of \u201cBest Community Support,\u201d which appears to focus on the community managers of teams rather than the fan communities themselves.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of developers and publishers that do support modding. Bethesda Softworks doesn\u2019t just approve the use of mods in its games, but has even attempted to monetize modders\u2019 work with the Creation Club<\/a>. Modding often plays such a central role in the legacy of Bethesda\u2019s games that it\u2019s a running joke within the community that the developers may release rougher games with the understanding that modders will go and fix all the main problems themselves<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bethesda isn\u2019t alone in its support for modding. In the case of Baldur\u2019s Gate 3<\/em> \u2014 which won the coveted Game of the Year Award in 2023<\/a> \u2014 the team at Larian Studios updated the game so that it\u2019s as easy to edit and add new content as possible. With Stardew Valley<\/em>, creator Eric Barone has not only worked to make the game as amenable as possible to modding, but hired some of these creators as developers on his team for later updates.<\/p>\n

While it might be difficult to navigate which kinds of modding work are or aren\u2019t OK to recognize on a national platform, I think it\u2019ll only get harder for Keighley to ignore the fan-made parts of the game development sphere. The initial buzz of the \u201cmetaverse<\/a>\u201d might sound like a dull hum two years after tech CEOs and game developers popularized the term, but user-generated content continues to play a major role in the larger gaming industry. This year, Epic Games tinkered with fan-made Fall Guys<\/em><\/a> maps, and Roblox\u2019s Dress to Impress<\/em><\/a> \u2014 while not a fan game \u2014 was made for the YouTube-like platform and became a viral hit that brought new audiences to Roblox.\u00a0<\/p>\n

User-generated content is pretty trendy right now, but there is also a practical reason to recognize modders: It\u2019s hard work. <\/p>\n

This year, Barone released the most modder-friendly version of Stardew Valley<\/em><\/a>, and what I witnessed of its 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.<\/p>\n

To me, these kinds of efforts genuinely encapsulate some of the best and brightest work happening in games \u2014 something that Keighley seems to be all about. So while I understand why an award category like \u201cBest Legally Sanctioned Fan Made Creation\u201d might be a bit wordy, it would definitely be worth it to give these creators the recognition they deserve. <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To me, mods represent some of the best work happening in video games. I don\u2019t just say this because these additions have allowed me to introduce anime boys to Stardew Valley or put Margaret Thatcher\u2019s grave in Skyrim, but 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 vital quality-of-life fixes for major AAA titles. Other times, a mod can change a game so that its romance system, gender markers, or character design options are more inclusive. If you can imagine a change in a game, it\u2019s possible a mod could bring it to life. Modders \u2014 who are developers in their own right \u2014 have worked on games…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1044966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1044965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nModders deserve recognition at The Game Awards, too | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To me, mods represent some of the best work happening in video games. 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