Nexus Mods Has New Owners—And Fans Are Freaking Out Over Potential Monetization

After running Nexus Mods for 24 years, founder Robin ‘Dark0ne’ Scott has decided to step down from leading the site. In a post on Nexus, he explained that running the massive modding platform had become too much over time.

“The strain of being responsible for the behemoth I created has taken its toll,” Scott wrote. “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.”

Scott started Nexus Mods way back in 2001 with a dial-up connection and no idea it would become the biggest mod site in the world. It now hosts mods for thousands of games and recently passed over 10 billion downloads. But after more than two decades, he felt it was time to hand it over.

“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.”

Scott says the site is in good hands now. Ownership has been passed to new leaders who he says are “the exact right people for the task.” He added, “Nexus Mods is community-first and mod-author focused, that’s not up for negotiation.”

But as soon as people started digging into who the new owners are, users became nervous. The new team is linked to a company called Chosen, which has a very business-heavy tone on its website, using phrases like “We partner. We amplify. We conquer.” That, plus LinkedIn posts from the founders talking about monetizing games with microtransactions and NFTs, set off alarm bells.

Some users were afraid Nexus Mods would become more commercial and start locking things behind paywalls. The worry was strong enough that one of the new owners, known as Foledinho on the site, stepped in to calm things down.

In a post, Foledinho made it clear that nothing big is changing. “Mods will always remain free,” he said. He also promised users won’t be charged to download mods, there are no new restrictions on free accounts, and premium lifetime memberships will still be honored.

Speaking to PC Gamer, a Nexus Mods spokesperson backed that up. “Our focus is on continuity, not disruption. We have a very experienced team here of 40 highly talented people, with tons of modding experience and a deep history with the community and this is not changing.”

They also added, “The new owners are here, embedded in the team, working with us all directly, not sitting in a distant tower, remotely directing us all towards some nefarious goals.”

Scott also reminded users that the success of Nexus Mods wasn’t just about him. “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 while the ownership has changed, Nexus Mods says the core values of the site, free access, supporting modders, and putting the community first, will stay the same.

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