Remember all the furore about Skyrim getting paid mods? Well, it seems Ark: Survival Evolved developers Studio Wildcard took notes from the fallout as they’re introducing a scheme to reimburse their incredibly active modding community without putting their output behind a paywall.
Speaking of which, check out the best Skyrim mods.
The plan is simple: Studio Wildcard will pay 15 modders $4,000 on a monthly basis to work on, complete and release mods for the game. The each month the work of those 15 modders will be evaluated to determine if they will be paid for another month. The number of Modders may also increase if Studio Wildcard decide that they don’t want to drop any content or funding.
“The hope is that with this kind of stipend, these authors, who really are hobbyists and have day jobs so they can’t really afford to spend as much time as they’d like on modding, that this will let them spend more time on modding, and ideally, hopefully, take some of these mods to completion,” Ark: Survival Evolved’s lead designer Jeremy Stieglitz told PC Gamer.
The most striking element of the scheme is the amount of money on offer: $4,000 a month. That’s an income if you’re dedicated and good enough, and it might prove enough for some talented modders to turn their hobby into their trade. It’s an elegant solution to a multifaceted issue, and shows an understanding of the value that modders add to games like Ark: Survival Evolved.
Thanks, PC Gamer.