#GarryNewman chimed in with #opinions about Paid Mods, but it is worth taking time to understanding the #developers position. The creator of Garry’s Mod, which is a fully paid title which originated as a free Source Engine mod, has a unique position on the transition from free to paid.
Given that Garry’s Mod started as a mod for Half-Life 2 letting players change the games art, physics, creating your own tools, and of course screenshots got the word out there. Eventually this evolved into full-game with Valve’s permission. “I sold a mod once and everyone was angry that it was happening, until it happened and they got a much better product than they’d have gotten when it was released for free, then they seemed to calm down a bit. It has given me a carreer for 10 years. It’s bought me two houses, a bunch of cars. It’s created a company that has hired 30+ people.”
On the fact of Paid Mods Newman outlines details on his website, “It’s probably no big surprise that I’m all for it. I sold a mod once and everyone was angry that it was happening, until it happened and they got a much better product than they’d have gotten when it was released for free, then they seemed to calm down a bit. It has given me a career for ten years. It’s bought me two houses, a bunch of cars. It’s created a company that has hired 30+ people.”
The argument for Newman, the modding marketplace will balance, eventually. Both the supply and demand what dictates what gets attention or not, gamers are vigilant. And of course free mods will still high priority.
“Some stuff won’t be worth charging for. Some people won’t want paying for their stuff. If a mod takes ten seconds to make and someone wants to charge $10 for it then they won’t sell any copies because it’s not worth it. This is how the market balances itself. They’ll either have to lower their price or make it worth the price,” Newman writes. “There was a time where they’d almost completely stopped making PC games because of piracy. Should we really let the fact that sometimes people are assholes dictate what we do? Or should we just deal with it when it happens?”
Checking out Newman’s full write-up` here where all the the pros and cons are broken down for each participant in the transaction. Outlining the benefits being bound to Valve and the game developer. “It’s obvious that Valve and the game developer need to make money here too, enough to cover costs at least – but it’s the modder’s work that is making the money,” Newman said.
