Highlights
- Killing Floor 3 has been announced and its unique premise of being a mod-heavy shooter is a delight for horror game lovers.
- The Killing Floor series has maintained a strong community-driven approach with custom maps and mods, primarily on PC, and it would be beneficial for the console ports of Killing Floor 3 to have similar functionality.
- While console game mods have been scarce, the inclusion of mod support in games like Dying Light 2 could potentially open the door for other games, including Killing Floor 3, to implement at least limited mod support, such as custom maps.
Killing Floor 3 was announced at Gamescom 2023 to the delight of horror game lovers everywhere. The premise of Killing Floor is simple: shoot zombies and survive a horde. While there are plenty of other zombie shooters out there, Killing Floor has always been unique. After beginning as a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, Killing Floor eventually became a stand-alone retail game in 2009 for PC. In spite of making the jump from mod to game, Killing Floor and its community have held onto the DIY spirit with custom maps, mods, and more. Unofficial content is typically relegated to PC, but Tripwire Interactive should try and bring the functionality to Killing Floor 3's console ports.
Mods for console games have been nothing short of scarce. Bethesda games have offered mod support, and other developers have tried to follow suit, but efforts have been largely futile. Skyrim's Creation Club features paid mods that expand the game, but compared to offerings on PC, many of the mods are limited in scope. Entries in the Farming Simulator series and other Bethesda titles have also featured limited mod support, along with a small handful of other console games. The feature has been growing in popularity, but modding is still something that has only truly thrived on PCs.
Mods Are A Huge Part Of Killing Floor
Killing Floor 2 is one of the best co-op zombie games, and mod support on PC makes it even better. A quick look at the Steam Workshop page for the game reveals hundreds of new maps, game modes, and gun skins. The first game in the series shares a similar amount of community-made content on its workshop page. The developer's open-mindedness to modding and custom content has allowed it to remain engaging for fans and for its players to have access to a massive amount of content. Steam Workshop makes it as easy as pressing the subscribe button and shows that the developer cares about its community of content creators.
Mods will almost certainly be a feature of Killing Floor 3 from day one on PC, but its inclusion on consoles remains uncertain. KF2 never received mod support on the console and though this was to be expected, it certainly hurt the experience and left console players out of a big piece of the game's fun. While Killing Floor 2's performance on Xbox and other consoles could have been a part of why mods were excluded, a generational jump in hardware power means that modding should be easier to pull off from a technical standpoint. Tripwire Interactive and Killing Floor 3 would benefit greatly if mod support is included in the new entry.
Another Zombie Game Could Open The Door For Mod Support On Console
Dying Light2 is receiving mod support on console due to its developer's collaboration with mod.io, which could hopefully open the door for other games. The first Dying Light received plenty of mods but, like Killing Floor, the most significant of this content was maps. The ability to include new maps in the console version is likely a big catalyst for the developers' push for their inclusion in the sequel. Even if Killing Floor 3 could not include full mod support and had to limit the availability of mods to maps, it would be better than nothing, and other games have shown it is possible.
Mods are borderline essential to get the full Killing Floor experience, and the current generation of hardware is powerful enough to provide the functionality to console players. While Sony and Microsoft are understandably cagey about mod support on their systems, Killing Floor 3 could do something similar to the Bethesda Creation Club. Killing Floor 2 received updates for years after launch, such as the Infernal Insurrection update, so even if mods aren't available at launch, Killing Floor 3's console ports could receive the functionality down the line if it proves to be a hit like its predecessor.
Killing Floor 3 is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
