Valve Gives Developers Green Light to Sell Game Mods on Steam

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Good or bad idea?

In what ranks as a truly game changing announcement (literally), Valve has cleared the way for developers to sell their mods in the Steam Workshop. That also includes game content such as items and maps, all of which can be made available for sale directly in the Steam Workshop for titles that enable feature. Kicking off the initiative is Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which is free to play until April 26.
"We think this is a great opportunity to help support the incredible creative work being done by mod makers in the Steam Workshop," says Tom Bui at Valve. "User generated content is an increasingly significant component of many games, and opening new avenues to help financially support those contributors via Steam Workshop will help drive the level of UGC to new heights."
Developers aren't forced to charge for their mods and can continue to make their content available for free, though if they want to make at run at monetizing their efforts, they're in control of the price.
Looking through the available paid Skyrim mods, some are as low as a quarter, others are several dollars. There are only 18 to choose from right now, though the interface is built to handle many more, allowing gamers to sort by category such as Alchemy, Animals, Factions, and so forth.
Buyers have up to 24 hours to request a refund for a mod that they either don't like or is broken.
Not everyone is stoked about Valve's initiative. Some take issue with the royalties -- creators only keep 25 percent of their sales, and potentially less if they've added contributors to their mods. The rest is split between Valve and the game's publisher.
Others worry that paid mods will become the norm, not the exception, essentially killing off the free mod category. There's even a petition on Change.org going around to remove the paid content, which has amassed over 21,000 signatures.
What's your opinion on this? Are you behind Valve in this venture, or are you more likely to sign the petition?
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