Yesterday, it was confirmed thatthe world’s largest modding site had been sold after 24 years. Nexus Mods founder Darkone cited “stress and anxiety” as the core reason for wanting to move the site on. Hosting hundreds of thousands of mods for series likeThe Elder Scrolls,Baldur’s Gate, andFallout, and with almost 17 billion downloads, the site’s new owner remained anonymous, sparking fears from the modding community.
Not happy with things being kept secret, over on ResetEra, users think they’ve found Nexus Mods' new owner, and it only compounds fears that things may turn out for the worse.
Nexus Mods' New Owner Could Be Called “Chosen”, Focuses On Monetization And “Uncompromised Growth”
If you’ve been on the internet in the last 24 years, you’ve probably seen content downloaded fromNexus Modssomewhere. Players have been addingThomas the Tank Engine,Shrek and Donkey, andGrand Theft Auto’s CJinto games with hilarious consequences for years. However, the golden age for Nexus could be coming to an end.
Over onReset, user RandomlyRandom67 did some digging, initially finding that the new owners could be based in the Netherlands or Scandinavia. Following these breadcrumbs, with help from Chocobalt, they ended up deducing that the site had been acquired by a company called Chosen, whosemission statementis to “partner with founders to help scale what they’ve built—amplifying their impact, supporting their team and culture, and ensuring the business thrives for the long term.”
Effectively, the company invests in start-ups focused on “UGC,” or user-generated content, and tries to make them more profitable. Despite claiming it is “not corporate,” the company’s site is littered with corporate speak, telling potential clients that it helps with “uncompromised growth” by “scaling businesses while preserving their vision and value” and that it “turns ‘impossible’ challenges into real opportunities.”
I kind of feel slimy after reading that monetization link. Ick.
Alongside potentially pinpointing the new owners, ResetEra users discovered amonetization cheat sheetfor gaming start-ups, created by Victor Folman, founder and CEO of Chosen. This sheet cites digital goods, NFTs, and In-App Purchases as “Top Tools for Monetization”, and focuses on “Average Revenue Per User”, the “Lifetime Value” of a user, and the “customer acquisition cost”.
Naturally, alarm bells are ringing around the Nexus Mods community. On the popular subredditr/skyrimmods, users have been sharing their unhappiness with the potential new owners. “Ugh, I kind of feel slimy after reading that monetization link. Ick. It’s a chart of almost everything wrong in gaming today,“saidGingerLeeBeer, with Ellis_D-25adding, “It’s basically an infographic on how to be a successful parasite and not get rejected by the host.”
These users are scared ofNexus Modsbeing more heavily monetized than it already is, with download speeds capped further, download limits implemented, modder payments removed, and more restrictive size limits.
Of course, nothing has been confirmed yet, but joining the dots, it certainly looks like Chosen could be the new owner.
