Is Mod Culture the Answer to Exploitation in the Gaming Industry?
Video games are a billion-dollar business and in 2020, the revenue from the worldwide PC gaming market was estimated at almost $37 billion. Nearly 28 years since Doom was released in December 1993 — one of the most popular sci-fi FPS games of all time that spurred the practice of modding into full gear — the global video game industry is scaling to heights never before imagined.
It’s no longer something associated with the stereotypical notions of the gaming culture — the rise of esports, on the other hand, has ensured gaming’s place as a “true” sport.
Modding means players modifying a game to change gameplay, appearance, environments, or assets. As a hobby, it is pursued mainly for the love or passion for the game.
Mod culture exists as a fascinating subculture of the gaming community that is inseparable from the industry’s development despite its sometimes complex relationship between the two.
Understanding the Prevailing Balance of Power
Without mod culture, some of the most well-known and arguably most influential gaming titles of all time would never have existed. Games like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Roblox, Among Us, apart from standards like Doom and Skyrim, would never have achieved enduring appeal if it weren’t for the vibrant modding cultures that supported them.
Nevertheless, corporations and game publishers have long sought to quash modders’ creative potential that ironically supports the industry, keeping them out of the walled gardens their ecosystems represent. Despite the value that modding brings to game publishers and the gaming industry in general, the industry knows where its bread is buttered — and will put up a spirited fight to protect what it asserts as its intellectual property. It all seems like a one-sided transaction — and an exploitative one at that.
However, the blurring lines as to what is construed as “leisure” have also led to a rethink of what constitutes “work” and what constitutes “play” as the labor that goes into modding is commodified and leveraged as a revenue source.
There’s no shortage of game developers that support modding activities, given how it benefits them in terms of a constant stream of intellectual property from fans that are mad about their games, not to mention the revenues. But stakeholders are also wary about retaining full legal rights to any intellectual assets created from these activities.
Yet, in essence, the axis of power when it comes to ownership tilts in favor of the corporations, whereas game modders remain at the mercy of the industry’s well-trained lawyers.
However, there is a case for stating that the gaming industry stands to gain more from granting mod communities more power over their creations than litigation does. Giving modders ownership might just empower them to find new monetization streams for the unique digital content they produce.
Unlocking and Democratizing Value
A symbiotic future between modders and the industry isn’t just a pipe dream — it’s long-overdue and comes to terms with the emergent new paradigm of the digital world.
And it’s not too far off from happening. That’s because San Francisco-based digital fashion pioneers, DIGITALAX, the Digital Fashion NFT protocol and marketplace for gaming and esports, have taken it upon themselves to liberate gaming and fashion through mod culture. They’ve already achieved that by launching the first-ever dedicated esports platform for independent developers, designers, modders, and casual players to create new monetization streams — @ESPA4play.
For the first time, they will be able to monetize and take agency of the digital content they create without needing any industry or political approval. The platform allows indie developers and modders to explore ways to profit from the content they create, which is interoperable across all platforms, and not limited by technical barriers.
ESPA also introduced the pioneering concept of casual esports, lowering the barrier from amateur to pro by providing an easy entry and onboarding point for players of all persuasions to make a living through gaming instead of the conventional centralized path to success. This means the value is no longer exclusively enjoyed by the ‘fat cats’ in the business. Casual esports players can play anytime, anywhere, and earn by doing so, while designers, brands, and creators can create content and monetize their creations off of the sustainable digital ecosystem.
Unlocking and democratizing value for participants in the digital fashion ecosystem is what underpins the platform’s mission — providing a way for the long undervalued modders, the lifeblood of the gaming industry, to finally gain the sought-after agency they have long deserved.
