Skyrim Might Get an Official Marketplace to It’s Mods

Skyrim is a momentous figure in video game history. Every game developer aspires to have the same remarkable success as Bethesda had with Skyrim. For 11 years, it’s been a W, but how many more times will Todd Howard sell it to us?

A YouTuber named JuiceHead discovered encrypted files on Skyrim’s SteamDB profile. One of these files indicates that a fresh build of the game —currently titled as “Marketplace”— will be released. Everyone’s first thought is that there will be an official platform for both paid and free Skyrim mods, which can save us from having to spend six hours organizing our modlist. However, Todd Howard claimed in a recent Lex Fridman podcast that Bethesda is aware that modders were crucial in attracting players to play Skyrim for a decade. Many modders that have been hired by their studios are now employed as professionals, creating new mods, or working on new titles titles. Therefore, their upcoming games (mostly Starfield in mind here) are deliberately developed in such a way that modders can find a home in them.

How would this be different from the Creation Club? Currently, modders have to present an idea to Bethesda, and if the publisher accepts it, they receive financial support to start developing the mod together with Bethesda Studios. They are then paid after each milestone they reach. A new kind of platform would shorten this process. Modders wouldn’t have to pitch ideas to the publisher, just apply with a strong portfolio, get accepted, and then unleash their beast of creativity. The revenue received from the sold mods would be split between the publisher and the modders. Maybe it would just be a new form of Creation Club what’s more modder friendly.