Dying Light Developers Will Allow Mods

Over the weekend there was a pretty big fallout over the availability of Dying Light mods as well as their availability on download services. Well, the developers finally came forward to clarify the situation and offer an explanation of what happened.

For those not in the know, various threads on Reddit appeared explaining how mods were being blocked in the core community and that some of the mods were hit with DMCA claims that had them pulled and blocked from popular file download services. What's more is that there was a recent patch for the PC version of Dying Light that made the mods unavailable in both single-player and multiplayer modes.

Well, Techland posted a statement on the Steam community thread, where they stated...

“With the recent patch (1.2.1) on Steam we blocked cheating to make sure the game’s PvP system (Be The Zombie) would not be abused. This, however, had the side-effect of hindering mod-makers from making changes to the game.“Creating obstacles for modders has never been our intention, and we are sorry for the inconvenience. We are now working on a quick patch that will re-enable common tweaks while stopping cheating in the game’s multiplayer mode. “

The mention how they love the modding community and how it was a big part of the original Dead Island series. They want to see that community continue to grow and foster as gamers come up with new ways to extend the lifespan of Dying Light and bring new and exciting experiences to the table.

Majority of the comments on the Steam page are highly supportive and very much acknowledge that they support the developers just as the developers state that they support their community and the modding scene.

Additionally, sources close to the situation have also stated that the DMCA notices are being retracted. This is great news for those still wishing to spread and expand the reach of various mods for Dying Light.

Given that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was involved, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Not too long ago there were also cease and desist letter sent out to modders who were doing a total conversion of Skyrim into The Lord of the Rings. That didn't get very far off the ground, though.

A lot of gamers usually tell modders “Don't make your project public until it's nearly finished!” they say this in hopes of being able to at least get their hands on a playable version of the mod before cease and desist letters or DMCA claims are sent out.

As for Dying Light, it looks like the modding scene will have an opportunity to grow and flourish. This is great news for the game because there are plenty of examples out there where mods help the game expand beyond the limitations of the vanilla game. I mean, just look at long a game like GTA IV managed to stay in the news and that was released way back in 2008!

Developers definitely know the value of the modding scene and the additional sales that can spawn from that scene, so it's cool that Techland is reassuring the community about their stance on being pro-modding for Dying Light.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.