Nexus Mods has been sold after 24 years of ownership from website founder Dark0ne.
Nexus Mods stands as the largest hub for video game mods for PC users, with a library of 716,500 mods across 3,768 games.
In an official blog post Dark0ne, who founded Nexus Mods back in 2001, explained what will change as well as why he decided to step away from the modding giant, linking “stress-related health issues” with his ownership.
“I realised that I have been burning out and this started to have an impact on my staff and Nexus Mods as a whole,” wrote Dark0ne. “So, I firmly believe that the best thing for the future of Nexus Mods is for me to step aside and bring in new leadership to steer the business forward with renewed energy to make Nexus Mods the modding community we all truly deserve.”
In a section titled “What Changes Now?” Dark0ne stated not much will differ for users, and introduced new owners Victor, Marinus, and Nikolai as the trio who’ll be steering the ship going forward. The blog only links to their Nexus Mods accounts page, rather than any information on previous business experience.
This post led some users to dig in a little further. RandomlyRandom67 on ResetEra did some digging and found the Linkedin profiles of several Danes who share the names of those mentioned in the blog post. This group works at a growth-focused gaming company called Chosen. On Marinus Elgaard’s Linkedin page, he wrote “Working closely with teams at NexusMods and beyond to build meaningful, sustainable experiences” under his experience history at Chosen
Looking at Chosen’s Linkedin page, four staff named Victor, Marinus, Nikolai, and Nikolaj can be found, further confirmation that Chosen is the company seemingly now in charge of Nexus Mods’ future.
This has worried Nexus Mod users, not only due to the growth-focused mission statement at the heart of Chosen, but prior statements from Chosen’s Victor Folmann on monetisation. This LinkedIn post champions the merits of in-app purchases, sponsorship, and more.
On an attached monetisation “cheat sheet” in that same post, a play-to-earn monetisation model is listed as an approach, which spooked some users. However Victor, in response to a comment on the monetisation post stating, “If you add NFTs or crypto to Nexus, you’ll kill the culture and community”, replied “100 percent agree – not happening”.
As an interesting aside, that fourth name on Chosen’s Linkedin page is especially interesting. Nikolaj is none other than Nikolaj Nyholm! One of the stars of the Danish Dragon’s Den, and founder of Danish esports team Astralis, best known for its Counter Strike team. Astralis isn’t doing especially hot right now, and is reportedly looking for buyers and investors. Nyholm’s involvement in Chosen is one of a founder and investor, as he puts the world of esports in his back pocket. The one without any money in it.
So it’s all a little doom and gloom right now in the world of modding. Concerns stem from the involvement of a growth-focused company, involvement which could lead to changes that impact the users of gaming’s biggest mod platform, in spite of Dark0ne’s sentiment in his farewell post. The ball is in Chosen’s court, to keep the website on the straight and narrow, aligned with the legacy of Nexus Mods, or ultimately prove the critics right.