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That will be welcome news to many in the Sims modding community, who worried that restrictions on early-access patron rewards could impact their livelihoods. “I am unsure if I can continue making mods if early access isn’t allowed,” marlynsims wrote on Twitter over the weekend. “Due to health reasons, Patreon is my only source of income, which is not EA’s responsibility.”
“Patreon early access is one of the only reasons I can afford my own medications, food, pet care and apartment so I can live above my disabled dad to take care of him,” JellyPaws added.
Bad actors
Beyond early access, though, some creators seem to be looking for a way to continue putting their custom Sims content behind a permanent paywall. Modder Cowbuild, for instance, writes that, “after seeking formal legal advice,” they will be offering their patron-exclusive 3D characters and items as “free model conversion[s]” that are compatible with The Sims 4. “All ownership of our 3D models and textures is reserved by us,” Cowbuild writes. “Additionally, we are permitted by law to transform our 3D model into any other form.”
This kind of game-playing from Cowbuild and others has drawn the ire of modders who play by EA’s rules. “It would not be impossible that we lost the right to early access due to users who abused it & perma-paywalled their stuff,” modder lumpinou wrote on Twitter. “Which is something I have feared all along, that the behavior of those who abuse the rules would end up hurting those who follow rules too.”
As it stands, letting modders offer early-access perks for otherwise freely accessible mods seems like a good middle ground, encouraging the most productive and in-demand creators while still allowing their content to be widely available for free. It’s certainly a better outcome than that of Steam, which offered the ability to charge for Skyrim mods in 2015 only to pull the feature after just four days in response to player outcry.