Nexus Mods' new owners promise they won't monetise the site to death as users panic at the whiff of venture capital: 'The new owners are here… not sitting in a distant tower, remotely directing us all towards some nefarious goals'

After 24 years in the modding biz, the founder of Nexus Mods—easily the biggest mod site on Earth—finally hung up the creation kit yesterday. Robin 'Dark0ne' Scott announced in a news post that he was leaving behind the daily running of the site, telling millions of users that "The strain of being responsible for the behemoth I created has taken its toll."

In Scott's place came new owners, and that's where things immediately got dicey. The people taking up the reins were only referred to in Scott's post by their first name and site username, but after a bit of digging by Nexus users, people quickly put together that the site had come under the umbrella of a company called Chosen, whose homepage declares "We partner. We amplify. We conquer."

Users also found the LinkedIn page of one of Chosen's founders, featuring content like a "Gaming Startup Monetisation Cheat Sheet" featuring entries on Play-to-Earn, Microtransactions, Pay-to-Play, Subscription Models, and (just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water) "Digital Goods and NFTs."

It all had the whiff of venture capital about it, which had a lot of people sucking in air through their teeth. Chosen's clear emphasis on growth and monetisation on its website had folks worried that Nexus Mods was headed for a rapid enshittification. The uproar was such that one of the new owners—Foledinho—has now taken to the site to try to calm everyone down with an announcement that Nexus Mods' "core model" is going to remain unchanged.

"Mods will always remain free," says Foledinho, which isn't exactly a surprise: trying to sell mods for other people's games would likely have games industry lawyers kicking the door down. But Foledinho goes further: it won't cost money to download mods, Chosen has no plans to claim ownership of mods uploaded to Nexus, there will be no added restrictions on free accounts (premium accounts get faster download speeds), and anyone who bought a lifetime premium account when they were available won't lose access.

That was backed up by a Nexus Mods spokesperson when PCG reached out: "Our focus is on continuity, not disruption. We have a very experienced team here of 40 highly talented people, with tons of modding experience and a deep history with the community and this is not changing. The new owners are here, embedded in the team, working with us all directly, not sitting in a distant tower, remotely directing us all towards some nefarious goals."

Which all sounds fine to me, but things get a little wobblier as the perspective gets broader. Responding to a hypothetical question about "Additional monetisation," Foledinho doesn't deny that any is on the way. Instead, he writes, "What matters most is continuing to support mod authors, delight users, and keep the lights on. We’re not changing the core model. No aggressive monetization. No paid mods. If anything, we’re aiming for fewer ads, not more. We’ll take a community-first, listening approach, and we won’t compromise on what’s made Nexus Mods special."

They're the right sounds to make, but don't really convey much concrete info about what future monetisation of the site will end up looking like. Though, to be fair, Foledinho does say in an answer to a separate question that he's an admirer of the site's current premium membership setup: "We think it was done right. It enabled healthy growth while supporting the community. We have no plans to change the core of how premium works."

Speaking to PCG, a Nexus spokesperson added that "it's clear to me they didn't acquire Nexus Mods to reshape it into something unrecognizable… Nothing fundamental is changing, no new ad invasions (in fact likely less), no content paywalls. Our goal is to make the site more sustainable with less noise, not more, and we’ll be transparent and community-driven every step of the way."

As to why Scott's initial leaving post made no mention of Chosen as a company, Foledinho justifies it by saying, "This post wasn’t about Chosen—it was about Robin and the legacy he built over 24 years. We’re the new owners and ultimate decision-makers at Nexus Mods. We’ll share more about ourselves when we’ve earned that right."

Which, I gotta be honest, doesn't quite wash for me. Maybe that was the new owners' true reasoning, but if so, it seems ill-judged. With a mission statement so redolent of that venture capitalist bravado that we've all seen ruin so many of our favourite games, websites, and who-knows-what else, keeping Chosen's name out of the announcement post was always going to feel less like 'earning a right to speak' and more like hiding something.

Per Nexus, "The main reasoning behind 'we’ll share more about ourselves when we’ve earned that right', is because right now it's all words, and these need to evolve into actions, and that is what builds community trust." Ultimately, they're right about that. All we have so far regarding Nexus' future are words and vibes. It's going to be a little while yet before we find out if Chosen can make good on its promises, or if we all need to make ModDB accounts.