It was only a few months ago that Valve decided to implement paid mods into Steam, which allow its users to pay for mods they like and support the people making them. It was an interesting endeavor, since mods take a lot of time to create and their creators deserve some compensation. And while some aspects of it needed work, it could've become a huge addition to the PC service given enough time.

Of course, we're all aware of how things went for the paid mods. Valve cancelled the paid mods initiative that began with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and later revealed that a few modders received death threats over it. To say that Valve was hit with a bit of backlash would be a huge understatement, but developers and publishers are always being told to listen to feedback, and in this particular case the negative (and a bit extreme) feedback resulted in the necessary reaction - though it'd be unfair to say it's what everyone wanted.

Valve has shared their views on how everything went down, but now Bethesda's Pete Hines, in an interview with GameSpot, reveals what the company may do next when it comes to paid mods. Those hoping to see paid mods return to Skyrim or the upcoming Fallout 4 will be disappointed, however, as it doesn't sound like they'll be showing up anytime soon. Furthermore, Todd Howard said as much about Fallout 4 last month.

Said Hines during the interview:

"I honestly, genuinely, don't know what it means for the future. It was an idea we worked on with those guys for Skyrim; it didn't pan out. It came back down."

However, Hines did state that Bethesda will continue to "re-evaluate it going forward," since creators getting paid for their mods is a discussion that needs to be had, as well as something he supports. Additionally, if paid mods do come back, Bethesda will still want a cut from the profits. But right now Bethesda has bigger fish to fry with the highly anticipated release of Fallout 4, which will still have unpaid mod support across PC and Xbox One.

"Our belief is, 'We made the game, we made the game you're making a thing for.' So just like anything else, there is some kind of involvement that we're going to have in that."

Fallout 4 is set to release on November 10, 2015 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It's several months away, but modders are already prepping for the wave of mods it will inevitably get. Apparently, you can never be too eager for Bethesda's next game.

Source: GameSpot