Bethesda Blocks ‘Skyrim Together’ Mod’s Steam Release

Sorry “Skyrim” fans. Bethesda has not allowed the release of the “Skyrim Together” mod via Steam. The publisher didn’t explain why this happened. However, there’s a silver lining: The developers of the mod are still willing to make the game available to the public, but they said that it would take some time.

The news that Bethesda blocked the Steam release of “Skyrim Together” emerged on the Skyrim subreddit this weekend. One thread shared what the developers announced online, saying: “Some news guys, we have been in discussions with Bethesda and while they are fine with us releasing the mod they weren’t with us publishing the mod on Steam and we relied heavily on the Steam APIs for party and lobby systems.”

Though the announcement was definitely a bummer to excited fans, the makers of the mod assured everyone that the game would still be released. However, the fact that they relied heavily on Steam APIs would mean that the release would be pushed back. “It will push back the dev a bit while we figure out a way to make our own party and lobby systems. It might sound like a trivial task but we expect thousands of concurrent players meaning we need something that scales well and that’s a complicated story.”

The same message was echoed by the devs in a separate subreddit. “We contacted Bethesda regarding releasing the mod via the Steam store as a mod of ‘Skyrim.’ We aren’t allowed to release the mod as a game obviously. So we had to seek permission from Bethesda to do this. We got a response from Bethesda that this was unable to be done, we were not supplied a reason however. This won’t stop development, we’re currently working on an alternative system.”

Many fans who stumbled upon the announcement couldn’t help but wonder why Bethesda blocked the Steam release of the “Skyrim Together” mod. Some shared their opinions on what could have driven the publisher to disallow the launch of the mod on Valve’s digital distribution platform.

“I don’t see why Bethesda would do this. It’s not like they would lose sales by having a multiplayer mod for their game (would do nothing but boost sales honestly,” one Reddit user with the handle Nok-O-Lok wrote. To this, user Ubbermann responded: “I mean they could see it as technically competing with ‘Elder Scrolls Online.’” Another user with the handle SexyMrSkeltal opined: “They want you to buy into ‘Elder Scrolls Online,’ with all it’s expensive DLC, expensive Expansion, expensive Subscription, expensive Microtransactions and expensive lootboxes.”

Others guessed that Bethesda could be planning on releasing something similar to “Skyrim Together,” so it has decided to block its release on Steam. “They’re probably planning on releasing something similar themselves,” user Yiproject stated. “So it begins. Bethesda blocking mods it probably is planning to release on the Creation Club. Just baby steps at the minute so expect more in the future,” user tonightm87 wrote.

There are also a couple of fans who justified Bethesda’s decision. “This is not Bethesda blocking the mod from being release on Steam Workshop, or as a separate download on the Nexus or the like. This is them not allowing a release like the ‘Just Cause 2’ multiplayer, or ‘Black Mesa (the ‘Half-Life 1’ remake’), where the mod gets its own store page, and potentially monetized release,” user Reasonabledwarf commented.

“It is a problem for the mod because it is apparently built on the Steam multiplayer system, which seems like an overly optimistic approach to begin with. That said, Bethesda’s not doing anything particularly evil by preventing someone from releasing a product on Steam with their game’s name on it. Bummer, yes, but not something I’d go collecting a pitchfork for.”

For those who aren’t aware as to what “Skyrim Together” is all about. Comicbook reported in September that this upcoming mod is just like “Tamriel Online.” However, the former is more interesting for it can provide a more expansive multiplayer experience by allowing players to band together in Tamriel.

On the project’s Patreon page, the developers said that they intended to release the mod this year. “We hope to release the first stable version of the mod during the year 2017 and hope to release multiple alphas and betas during this year.” Given what transpired recently, it’s very likely that “Skyrim Together” would be launched in the following year or, generally speaking, in the future.

What do you think of Bethesda’s decision to block the release of the “Skyrim Together” mod via Steam? Tell us in the comments section below.