How Mods Strengthen Games

Duncan Kennedy, Source Article: http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/10/28/the-25-best-skyrim-mods-2/

            Some of the best games on the market started out as modifications (mods) of other games. Counterstrike is a prime example of this, the original Counterstrike being a mod for the game Half-Life. The ability to mod a game, whether to add to it or change it entirely, is one of the most important abilities in the collective toolbox of the games industry.

            Many games derive their lifeblood from their mods and their modding community. Skyrim is a fantastic game in its own right, but adding mods to the experience makes it truly phenomenal. Bethesda, the studio behind Skyrim, strongly encourages modding, going so far as to release the Skyrim Development Kit.

            While the benefit of modding is in plain view, some developers and publishers discourage it for reasons such as preventing piracy or to prevent hacking in online games. Though in some cases these are valid reasons, the methods some companies use to prevent modding are intrusive and hurt the game overall. Spore implemented very intrusive and harsh Digital Rights Management (DRM) that hurt sales overall. One must think of, if EA had gone in the opposite direction and welcomed modding and removed the many layers of security on the games code, would it have been better overall, and would it have been pirated less?

            Some games originally started out as mods, such as Counterstrike, mentioned earlier. Other such titles include DOTA, Team Fortress and arguable the entire Tower Defense genre have their origins in mods. Tower Defense was a staple of the modding community for Warcraft III, and many of those modders went on to create games of their own. Many valuable members of high-end studios were found in the modding community, Valve being an advocator of this.
            Companies would do well to advocate for and help modders tweak their games. In the long run, it will create more vibrant games, and a more powerful gaming culture.