An Update From Dark0ne
I started this project back in 2001, in my bedroom, with a 56k modem, an excitement for the upcoming release of Morrowind and with no grand ambitions or intentions. I didn’t set out to build a business, I just wanted to make a place where modders could share their work without worrying it would vanish into the internet either the next time a fansite went offline or a publisher decided they were done with it. That idea grew legs, sprouted arms, and turned into Nexus Mods.
Since then, this site has been my entire adult life. Every single day, for over two decades, I’ve been "on call", whether it was fixing issues, reading feedback, pushing updates, or getting pulled into the latest bit of community drama. It’s been rewarding, sometimes chaotic, often exhausting and always personal. Somewhere along the way, I forgot to step back and breathe, or sleep properly. The dilemma of running a major social network that does not rest!
The strain of being responsible for the behemoth I created has taken its toll. The stress of the job has been a regular source of anxiety and stress-related health issues. I realised that I have been burning out and this started to have an impact on my staff and Nexus Mods as a whole. 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.
One of the biggest reasons I've been doing this for so long is that I've never felt that I truly found someone who really "gets" the modding community the way I do. Finding a new owner who would be able to understand and respect the myriad intricacies of both Nexus Mods as a business and the wider modding community was essential.
After months of meetings, face-to-face talks, and a whole lot of soul searching, I am thrilled to say that I truly believe I have found the exact right people for the task.
So yes, the ownership of Nexus Mods has changed hands, but I want to be clear, this isn’t some corporate “exit” or a backroom deal. This is me doing something I probably should’ve done years ago: taking care of myself. Reclaiming some headspace. And finally letting go of the idea that I have to do everything and be responsible for everything myself.
What changes now?
Honestly, not a lot, at least not from your side of things.
Behind the scenes, I’ve already been stepping back bit by bit. Over the past few years, the team has taken on more of the weight and the site’s been doing better than ever. What’s changing now is simply the formality of it, making sure the right people are in place to guide Nexus Mods into the next era.
That includes some structural updates to the company ownership that we aren’t shouting about, but I want to be transparent: they’re about long-term stability, not changing the values or direction of the platform. Nexus Mods is community-first and mod-author focused, that’s not up for negotiation.
While I am stepping back, it's important to understand that Nexus Mods isn't just about me and hasn't been for a long time. The Nexus Mods you see today has been created by a team of 40 incredibly dedicated people, some of whom have been here for over 9 years. They live and breathe modding, they care deeply, they’re experienced, committed, and they're very much still here. None of that is changing.
So if I can ask one thing, it’s to continue supporting them, the site, and the community they help nurture every day.
In terms of new faces, you’ll also be seeing more of Foledinho (Victor), Rapsak (Marinus) and Taagen (Nikolai), who’ve come on board to lead this next chapter. They’ve got deep roots in gaming, tech, and most importantly, they give a damn; about the site, the community, and the future we’re trying to build here.
Editor's Note: We've added Nikolai to the new owners listed above. He works more in the background, but is still an important part of the team!
They have my complete trust, and I’m incredibly proud to be bringing them onboard.
What about me?
I’m not disappearing. I’ll still be annoying people on the Mod Author Discord, lurking on the forums, and sticking my nose into community matters when I can’t help myself. I’ll also be working with the team to help guide the overall direction of the site, just without needing to be the person who signs off on every little thing and without taking responsibility for any and all things Nexus Mods.
Frankly, that’s a good thing, for me, for the team, and for the future of Nexus Mods.
708 comments
Thanks for the warm welcome! We’re as excited about Nexus Mods’ future as you are. This post was all about Robin, giving him the credit he truly deserves. He built something incredible, creating a culture that’s shaped gaming and modding as we know it. We're here to honor that legacy and carry it forward, but we need to earn your trust.
Now, let’s clear the air on a few things:
Trust takes time.
We're committed to putting control back in the hands of creators, players, and communities. We’ll get back to building now.
Marinus, Nikolai and Victor.
could we ask the context and reason for a mod.
(Note that i have no idea about any of this you are talking about, i did not see any of these mods most of you are arguing about.)
If i was playing a game where the character is white and i can't play anyone else and its a roleplaying game, and I'm a black girl in real life, and i can mod, i might want to make a mod changing my character to be female and black. this in my view would be ok the reasons are not bigoted,
But than what if a moderator comes to ask me why i made the mod, and i simply don't respond or am in a bad mood or just don't have good social skills, and give a vague answer that does not make it clear the reasons to why and it's context, maybe if i was a moderator i would want to kick it down.
About the flag, i have no idea about this flag, did not see the mod, don't know what you are saying.
But if i have a flag any flag, in my game and it is reminding me of anything in real life i don't feel comfortable with for what ever reason or i just think it is ugly, in the way, or being spammed in the game too much.(this hypothetical would be for a non bigoted human being).
Than i might just want to mod it to change it somehow to what ever i would think would be more pleasant, and i might share it cos i would think people would have the same thought, than again, i would refer to the case i made about moderation above, to this part of the comment, and again,
if not enough reason and context was given and it was not clear enough that i was making it for a legitimate reason with no bigoted grounds, as a moderator i might take it down for looking like it is bigoted.
I have no idea how things work around here. i am a newb mostly using nexus for 20 years but for moding, i have no conversations and i don't read posts.
So to summarise, instead of things in this world being seen as right or wrong immediately, instead, mods being an overall art form, they are subjective to opinions and opinions and ideals are relative, but we do not like bigotry and hate etc, that's for sure, but do we also like freedom? than we must ask the art creators for the logic, the point, the reason, and understand the creator's truth of the why things are made.
And modders, would have to be responsible fully formed dudes, that can give coherent responses that satisfy the nexus staff and give a perfect insight in to why things are made.
As a side note: this is just my opinion, i don't really like how most people think its right or wrong, no, its a middle ground. it depends on why things are made, if they are not plain out hateful like right away, i think we should get it straight before we judge the mate making them.
I also think a lot of you have really good points, like someone said that if you let one hate mod come in than they all start coming in, maybe you are right.
But i still think what would really be fair would be to get the reasons for the mods and make conscious decisions before bans.
But def hide mods that seem offensive until they are proven non offensive.
Sorry i am boring everyone with more gigantic comments,
I wish the new owners the best of luck in taking over the world, of the nexus.
Thank you for letting people have discussions in here, although i find it strange, maybe we did need this lol.
If game developers only give players one choice and thereby try to foist a certain message on them, then in my opinion that is simply bad game design.
But i believe a bunch of dudes figuring out if the reason is legitimate and actually asking about it and getting a response,
Is the fair way to go and will probably work best.
I'm talking nexus staff, maybe selected for being optimal for this kind of decision making.
Maybe it is not perfect, but it might be close to perfect :P
Better that i think, than using a logic to ban or leave unbanned certain things depending on what it does without asking the modder about his true intentions and making a thought out decision before deciding the ban/removal.
Because it might be art after all, it might have taken a lot of care, love, hard work and time to make, and maybe it was in the nicest loveliest interest/intention.
That's a flawed argument. It's the argument used by the bigoted who complain about a black woman in their game, or a gay man, or whatever that isn't a straight white male. The existence of those people is not a message. Their inclusion in a game is not a message. Their existence as a playable character is not a message. The existence of anyone other than straight white men or women who strictly conform to more traditional gender roles is not a message.
But even if it were, even if developers put a message into their game, why is that bad? Games have been statements for several decades now. Other media even longer.
LOL, "If we HIDE the bigotry well enough, you should allow it!".
LOL no.
Once again, that is not how any of this works my guy.
... also, I wonder what the EU has to say about it?
"Hatred not only affects the individual victims, it represents a threat to vibrant democracies and a pluralistic society.Hate motivated crime and speech are illegal under EU law. The 2008 Framework Decision on combating certain forms of expressions of racism and xenophobia requires the criminalisation of public incitement to violence or hatred based on race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin. "
... ... ... oop.
For example, a mod is made that is clearly not to be racist but it so happens that it touches the race subject, would be "perfectly legitimate", but now a bunch of racists are downloading it for racist reasons, that could happen or maybe that was the intention all along, i guess we would not really be able to discover that, it would be "hidden enough".
So his statement is true, but what you say is also true and brings an excellent point to what i have said here. What if people hide their hateful mods behind a sane non bigoted logic and it gets past the "filter", what if they are good at hiding the true intentions of their content.
I still think the solution would be to just trust some dudes that are really good at discerning intentions and what is art and what is not, and have them make good decisions on a good solid basis.
Thanks for commenting on my comment lol.
You can accidentally unalive someone and still go to jail for manslaughter. Intent is CLEARLY not the only factor that needs to be considered.
(Also, you can lie about intent. As someone who has had to engage with right-leaning trolls for the better part of two decades, they will twist language, move goal posts, and just blatantly lie to get their way. Like they have been doing all over this announcement, trying to bully and strong-arm the new owners into allowing their filth straight away.)
I agree with your statement AleniaVamp2000, but i will now ramble on about it. :P
You would never have any art at all, absolutely nothing, if there was censorship that simply bans something because it seems to harm a community. Anything can seem to harm any community, just needs a guy/gal to interpret it that way and share his opinion with the rest. That could not be the basis for a fair system, an artist should be entitled to do his "crazy" thing even if it pushes a few buttons, if the true intent is never to harm. A lot of art is made with the sole purpose of inciting feelings, conversations, discussions they have a provocative nature but the intent is not bad, it is the opposite, it is trying to bring about change through thought.
Ofc the interpretation of some people can be that it harms, but if that is not its intent and 50 people can see that, and like the piece, do we bend to favour the will of another 50 people that think it's harmful and deprive the first 50 of the piece they enjoy?
(ofc i am not taking in to account here that people that don't like things tend to be a lot more vocal than people who like things, but this is just a comment i don't need to go that deep)
For 100 years we are using groups of humans to decide what should be censored and not. it is a flawed system but it kinda works.
Using tv as an example, we have channels that let artists get away with more and the results sometimes is fantastic art pieces that makes us super happy, and tv shows that get completely censored and the whole idea and the show itself falls apart.
Art is by nature pretty wild, than the interpretation of anyone, can put any piece of art in a situation where it looks bad, but really i think what truly matters is what the artist thinks the piece means, (and to be honest if he/she doesn't want to say why, that is actually legit) as long as it's not something that clearly sounds hateful or horrible to the general population.
And thus the "censors" do their thing and make sure things make sense by their standards,(that should represent most of the general publics opinion) that we will just have to trust.
And as a community we will in time decide if we like their decisions or not, but the voice of the few should never out weight the voice of the many(just because they are more vocal), and the freedom of one should not trample the freedom of another. Most of us have a basic common notion that we do not want hate based content around, but if we go too far we might castrate artists trying to make genuine pieces, they will no longer feel free to make what they want, if they feel they might get shut down for it looking like something that it is not.
I am sorry... I write a lot...
anything you do , no matter what will ALWAYS get someone either offended or mad. even if it's none of their business and doesn't impact them directly. you cannot expect art or any other kind of stuff, mods included to appeal or even be okay with EVERYONE. there will ALWAYS be someone unhappy in one way or another that will be more vocal than the ones happy about it and you cannot get rid of something because a small part of the user base is throwing a tantrum. censorship and choking creativity is never gonna be the answer. if anything , it'll fuel more extreme takes and art pieces as protest. i think everyone no matter what political side they're on should be able to express their creativity as long as it doesn't cross any lines such as openly directed racism , sexism , hate or violence ( these works in every ways no matter who it's directed at).
The way you interpret this statement alone shows me how pointless it is to engage in conversation with people like you. It's all about hatred and incitement in your minds. Even if you are unable to define exactly what that is supposed to be. We experience all this every day and have seen it a thousand times before. You have no other arguments for people who do not agree with your point of view. Framing and name calling is not based on facts; it is simply an expression of the feelings you have toward others.
"If you are causing harm to a community, even if that is not your stated intention, you are still causing harm."
If someone uploads a mod without stating their intention in any way, you simply assume that their intention is bad. That's how this mindset works.
"That's a flawed argument. It's the argument used by the bigoted who complain about a black woman in their game, or a gay man, or whatever that isn't a straight white male. The existence of those people is not a message. Their inclusion in a game is not a message. Their existence as a playable character is not a message. The existence of anyone other than straight white men or women who strictly conform to more traditional gender roles is not a message."
That must be the reason why games like Dustborn exist, or why Dragon Age: The Veilguard teaches us what good and immoral behavior is.
"But even if it were, even if developers put a message into their game, why is that bad? Games have been statements for several decades now. Other media even longer. "
I play to be entertained, not to receive a lesson in good behavior. When I play games, I am not interested in the daily problems of the real world in any way. I want to switch off for a while, forget my worries, and just have fun. No one has anything against games whose stories raise philosophical questions, if the story behind them is coherent, as is the case with Cyberpunk 2077, for example. That's what distinguishes good storytelling from bad. I can make my own decisions that influence the course of the story in some way. Nothing must happen, but anything can happen. That's also why games like Mass Effect have stuck in players' memories. It's all about the decisions you make. Nowadays, virtual signaling is unfortunately more important than good storytelling.
YOU want the metric to be "Intent over effect" because it gives you cart blanch to make any ugly thing you want, then say "But I didn't *mean* for my Not-See Flag mod to be offensive!" and force Nexus to keep it up. Hence why it is a bad metric to make decisions with.
If you make a mod that is bigoted, *EVEN IF YOU DON'T PERSONALLY SEE IT AS SUCH*, Nexus has every right to take that mod down, no matter what your personal intent might have been. Full stop.
Luckily for us, the EU has pretty strong laws about exactly this, and Im pretty sure out new owners are not gonna make their first move "Get the EU all up in our butts for hosting bigotry!"
>Mentions a game that's heavily about capitalism and its impact on society.
(engaging and disarming right wing trolls is a reflex at this point... They like to make it seem like they are the majority, and use things like second accounts to puff up their presence, so that their platform of bigotry seems more popular or more "Right" than it actually is... and they do that by sucking all the air out of the room till most people just exit the convo, then they claim the "Won". Wellllllll, not on my watch lol)
Ignore and block all people using left and right wing comments, this people just like sticking labels on others and enjoy the scent of their own importance.
Oh! A chance to point out one of your escalation techniques! And it's one of my favorites! Dehumanization!
By calling me "It", you are attempting to bait me in two ways: To start en exchange about my gender (In which you will claim Im trans in some way, trying to discredit and insult me) and/or attempting to spin the conversation into gender essentialism, which is so far beyond the scope of this thread, it will get turned off.
So, what name did I call you again? Cause Im calling out "General Bigots", and for that to be relevant to you, you would have to self-identify as one.
Oh, is there a post limit rule Im unaware of? Link it and I will comply post-haste! Don't wanna be a rule-breaker :)
What an excellent example of interpreting something that isn't there. “It” refers to the matter at hand, not to you personally. I couldn't care less what gender you are or which gender you identify with. You're just revealing how you tick and how you think.
*Sniff*
I do love the smell of plausible deniability in the afternoon. But that is just awfully off topic.
So, how you feeling about how the EU frames this issue?
(This part in particular?)
"Hate motivated crime and speech are illegal under EU law. The 2008 Framework Decision on combating certain forms of expressions of racism and xenophobia requires the criminalisation of public incitement to violence or hatred based on race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin."
Each Nexus account creator EXPLICITLY agrees to Terms of Service conditions. Those conditions EXPLICITLY state what you can and cannot publish on this PRIVATE business' website.
What the Terms of Service DO NOT apply to:
- How YOU choose to think.
- How YOU choose to interpret the world.
- What content HOSTED OUTSIDE OF NEXUSMODS.COM YOU PRIVATELY choose to implement in YOUR games on YOUR own PRIVATE electronic device(s).
That is the end of it.
There is nothing further to litigate within the purview of the relationship between the site, site content, and site account owners. Stop deliberately obfuscating. Stop moving the goalposts because you get a definitive, unequivocal answer you do not agree with. Stop the whataboutisms. Stop the bad faith arguments, the logical fallacies.
In the context of this very basic, boilerplate relationship between you, the Nexus account creator, and Nexus, a PRIVATE business, when it comes to mods:
- What political stance you think the website leans towards is IRRELEVANT.
- What you think is right or wrong is IRRELEVANT.
- What you think is fair or unfair is IRRELEVANT.
You want to know why?
Start reading from the top.
the fact that nexus mods is free for anyone to use and upload to is a blessing. this site is a privilege for everyone who uses it, it didn't have to be here, they could have stopped supporting it long ago but they didn't. people need to stop acting so entitled and accept that this website is for everyone to enjoy and for the owners to manage how they see fit
, to the end.
It's been two days now - I'm not sure what's the point of keeping this post unlocked anymore, especially since the majority of conversations pivoted to "talks" (complains) about "censorship" and "unfair moderation" (also considering it has been locked two, three times already) I think, maybe, it would be wise to adress it directly and open a proper discussion on this matter once and for all, in another post dedicated to this topic? Would make it easier for moderators to keep track of actual feedback on the new ownership on this post :)
One thing is clear, a lot of people feel strong about the topic of "censorship" and tolerance (or lack thereof) while simultaneously not understanding it (and doing nothing to understand it either). They are entitled to their own opinions, bias and emotions, but a lot of people fail to grasp that their opinions, our opinions, doesn't matter at all; we all signed up on Nexus, meaning we all should be aware of the TOS and rules - they're the one who decided to ignore the clearly stated "warning signs" when signing up.
If, tomorrow, Nexus decides to do a 180°, update their TOS and ban LGBTQ+ content while keeping bigoted and nazi mods, we wouldn't be able to do anything about it; I'm sure a lot of the people currently screaming about equality and censorship would scream Victory and flip their fingers at "the other side" (because why would they tolerate the people they keep removing from their games, right?)
Now as a general reminder: People's lives, sexuality and skin colors are not political.
Getting sick and tired of seeing this word being thrown around - "keep politics out of games" - as if the games we love aren't filled with ACTUAL political stories. Call it what it really is; Minorities. You don't want minorities in your games. You want the freedom of erasing us, modding us out, the freedom of shoving your mod and opinion into everyone's face on a big platform and you don't want to get hit with the concequences of doing so. THIS is what this whole mess is really all about.
"It's just a mod, you don't have to download it and you can hide it, what's the issue?"
The issue is that minorities, Black people, Gay people, are still being murdered and killed to this day, in 2025. We are still being killed, tortured and hate-crimed DAILY for just being ourselves. Seeing people being so proud of themselves for erasing us in games, publishing their mods for everyone to see, waiting to be pated on the back and coddled in their opinions is upseting, it is hurtful. To block something, we still have to see it, see how much download the mod has, see how many people agree with your opinion, with your hatred. Seeing 'straight white men' saying they feel equally "victimized" by mods including a pride flag or changing the skintone of a white character to a darker tone, as if they were persecuted all their lives for being 'white straight men' is making me SICK.
This whole comment section should be used as a reason as to WHY Nexus needs to STAY the way it is. We need inclusivity more than ever, especially in today's political climate, and it's truly sad and infuriating that so many people fail to realize that.
Agreed. It is indeed a tough one.
NM must work within the framework of the Law.
T&C's explain everything, so don't expect them to bat for every side because they can't.
IMO: If your Mod won't get them in legal trouble, it should be allowed.
Getting sick and tired of seeing this word being thrown around - "keep politics out of games" - as if the games we love aren't filled with ACTUAL political stories. Call it what it really is; Minorities. You don't want minorities in your games. You want the freedom of erasing us, modding us out, the freedom of shoving your mod and opinion into everyone's face on a big platform and you don't want to get hit with the concequences of doing so. THIS is what this whole mess is really all about."
Yep. This. 100% THIS
Um... or, you could just not be a bigot? Or keep that bigotry off this particular website, and to yourself?
It's super easy, watch:
*Thinks bigoted thoughts*
*Keeps them to myself cause Nexus will just take them down anyway*
*?Profit?*
🟥 🟧 🟨 🟩 🟦 🟪
There is no "censorship" happening on Nexus Mods.
The moment you create an account on their platform, you agree to their rules and TOS, which includes their File Submission guidelines:
TL:DR - "Don't publish bigoted mods on our platform or we'll have to remove it."
Don't agree with these rules? NexusMods might not be for you then.
*Chefs Kiss*
Look at Twitch, a dying platform, because all they do is alienate their userbase.
I think what you might not fathom is that... the people who wanna be bigots ARE the minority of users on Nexus. And Nexus has NO reason to cater to them, because the folks that are NOT bigots are who would leave if they start allowing it... and they outnumber the bigots 5 to 1 conservatively.
Also (again) this site is operating under the EU now... and they have pretty strict laws that would get Nexus taken down if they started hosting those kinds of mods. So no... they do NOT need to do that. That would be bad LOL
If you care about the community, want to be a part of it, and earn our trust as you so claim, then you need to be transparent and upfront about these things. Because being secretive isn't going to help users trust you. In fact, it makes them less likely to trust you, because now you have half the community thinking they need to download every mod on the site because now they're worried some sort of aggressive, and intrusive monetization will happen to it.
And while you claim nothing will change, I have a hard time believing that. Again, you talk about earning our trust, but the new owner was not disclosed to the users and was only discovered after other forums did some digging, the new admins said they feel they *couldn't* talk about themselves. So, tell me. Why should the community trust you? You've certainly given us no reason to. If you were at least up front and honest about Chosen being the new owner, I'd still have my doubts, but I'd at least respect the transparency. But no such effort was made. You're basically just saying "trust us."
it quite literally will show them if they're losing subs