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Nobody wants to have their project taken away by a swift DMCA takedown on a random afternoon. Just recently, the Baldur’s Gate 3 inspired Stardew Valley mod Baldur’s Village was taken down, only to be restored after a callout by Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke.
While this project was saved, modders working within Baldur’s Gate 3 itself are no so worried. Path to Menzoberranzan, a massive in-development mod for the game, is built using cracked map tools that allow players to make their own custom campaigns.
Similar to Fallout London for Fallout 4, Path to Menzoberranzan is essentially an entire new game. With six-to-eight custom companions, new factions, gorgeous recreations of Baldur’s Gate 2 locales and more, the in-development mod is a constant source of excitement for the community. But now that hundreds of fans are involved in writing, scripting, voice acting, asset creation and more, is there any worry that the mod will be cut down by Wizards of the Coast? Not really, no.
Baldur’s Gate 3 modders aren’t worried about DMCAs
Speaking to VideoGamer, the Path to Menzoberranzan team explained that they’re not particularly worried about their project being killed by Wizards of the Coast or any other party. While some members of the team do sometimes get hit with a tingle of fear, the team believes there’s no reason to take down the project.
“When I saw the news [of Baldur’s Village being shut down] I got a little bit worried,” revealed project lead Gregory ‘Lotrich’ Barak. !I understand that we are currently not violating any licensing, not from WOTC, and not of Larian, which makes us completely safe from my understanding.”
“We’re not trying to siphon money from any other company. We’re just wanting to make something amazing.”
PATH TO MENZOBERRANZAN CREATIVE DIRECTOR THOMAS LOUGHLIN
Thomas Loughlin, the creative director of the Baldur’s Gate 3 mod, explained that modding only proves to extend the lifespan of games. Larian themselves have heavily promoted mods, even allowing players to download mods on console as of Patch 7. With this in mind, the team believes both Larian and Wizards of the Coast recognise how much value mods are adding to their game.
“Modding within video games it’s, you know, 20, 30, 40, 50 years old,” Loughlin said. “Modding within video games has always happened, it probably always will happen. And what modding gives to a video game, gives to the community, is substantially more than what it takes away.”
Loughlin explains that Wizards of the Coast, and especially Larian, recognise that mods are creating “more buzz” about their games and will “give some stuff new life” decades into the future. With modders believing Baldur’s Gate 3 to be the next Skyrim in terms of modding longevity, gamers will be buying the RPG for many years to come.
“Modding is an amazing thing for every single party,” Loughlin continued. “Anyone that kind of, like, struggles to see that probably doesn’t understand gaming. We’re always adding value, that’s what we try and do. We’re not, no one here’s making any money, we’re not trying to steal any money from anyone, we’re not trying to siphon money from any other company. We’re just wanting to make something amazing.”
Path to Menzoberranzan is an amazing project with a surprising amount of professionalism engrained into the team. While a lot of mod projects fall through—such as Fallout: Neuvo Mexico—the team is filled with passion, and this is just the start of Baldur’s Gate 3’s massive, massive future.
While Hasbro already has its own plans for the future of Baldur’s Gate, which could lead to a BG4, BG3 still has years of fan-made life. After all, did Morrowind mods stop after Oblivion? Absolutely not. (Shoutout to Tamriel Rebuilt!)
