Cyberpunk 2077: Paid Mod Displeases CDPR

The world of MODs is as old as the internet – perhaps older if you recall the patches and extra levels for Duke Nukem 3D distributed via floppy disks attached to print magazines [...how old are we?...] – but one of the unwritten rules of this environment is that fan-made content is generally distributed for free. Generally, but not always.

This is the case, for example, with the R.E.A.L. VR software, a container of MODs for numerous video games that allows them to be played using a VR headset, but which requires a subscription to the author's Patreon profile to be downloaded and updated. The author goes by Luke Ross, but according to The Verge, this is a fictional alias. The monthly Patreon subscription costs $10 and hypothetically allows you to download all desired MODs, leaving them perfectly functional sine-die; however, if after this period a game update occurs that requires an update to the corresponding MOD, it would be necessary to repeat the payment for another month. Among other titles in the catalog are Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy, and Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Recently, Ross published a VR MOD for Cyberpunk 2077 on his platform, only to promptly remove it when CD Projekt RED sent him an injunction, accusing him of monetizing the distribution of a MOD and thus violating the software's license agreements. This is not Ross's first DMCA; in 2022 – Kotaku reminds us – he triggered the same reaction from Take Two Interactive regarding his MODs for GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2.

In a post published on his Patreon, Ross describes the situation with very close analogies between the two companies: "At least they were a bit more open and I got responses from both their legal department and the VP of business development – he admits – but in the end, it's the same corporate battleship logic: every small action the company takes is in the name of profit, but everything MODders do must be absolutely free. As always, they stretch the concept of 'derivative work' to the thickness of tissue paper, as if a system that allows the display of over 40 games in fully immersive VR 3D was somehow built using their intellectual property. And as always, they don't give a damn about how playing their games in VR makes people happy and they can't simply be grateful for the extra copies they sell because of it."

It must be said that Luke Ross is a kind of controversial anti-hero in the MODding community, precisely because his work is distributed behind a paywall: the norm for MOD development teams is to release content for free and then rely on voluntary donations from end-users, which are obviously neither quantifiable nor directly attributable to the specific software. According to The Verge, Ross's activity earns him approximately $20,000 a month: a very high figure for MODding activity.

In any case, after removing Cyberpunk 2077, Ross certainly didn't sit idly by and launched his VR MOD for Baldur's Gate 3. We'll see if Larian Studios [or Hasbro] will stand by or file a similar lawsuit...