The Space Marine 2 mod scene is starting to pick up steam—Nexus Mods has a mix of everything from basic weapon cosmetics to a "Primarch Power Fantasy"— and game director Dmitriy Grigorenko thinks that's great. But it's also starting to cause some headaches, which is why the game's next big update, set to arrive in December, will incorporate a ban on the use of mods in public online play.
"Our data shows that a non-negligible amount of recent server stability issues are related to mods, and that instability impacts even those users who don't have mods installed," Grigorenko wrote in an update on Steam. "We have also received user reports that their save files were corrupted after playing alongside players with mods."
Because of that, Space Marine 2 players with mods installed will no longer be allowed to enter public games after the December update goes live. The good news is that the dev team doesn't want to take all the fun away, so mods will still be allowed in private Operations lobbies. "We will continue to provide all necessary server infrastructure so you can play online with your friends with mods," Grigorenko wrote. "Once we add custom Eternal War lobbies, mods will work for them as well."
Grigorenko also committed to providing "an easy entry point to our backend for games with mods installed, so modders won't have to spend time hacking the game executable after each patch." Better modding tools are also on the way: "We will be releasing some of our tools to modders so they can develop mods with greater ease," he wrote, although no details were provided.
It seems like a reasonable compromise to me. The use of mods in online games can be a real hassle for developers and players alike, but Saber's approach means players who are aware of the risks and want to get weird with their friends anyway are still able to do so. And of course better mod tools means better mods, which is never a bad thing. Players in the Space Marine subreddit certainly seem happy with the move: As Vodka_Flask_Genie put it, "People who want a modded experience are allowed to have that without bothering people who do not want the shenanigans and stability issues that come with modding. Common Saber W."
