☢️📰 Welcome to the Marketplace: EAxis' official version of ModCo and TSR! They're pulling a Bethesda and monetizing modding while dangling cross-platform mod support. -- [13:21] ⚡ Updated with (2) new sections.
☢️ Bethesda pulled this !@#$ years ago with The Elder Scrolls. Here we go again! I assume EAxis won't back down (because The Sims prints money), and Simmers likely won't band together against it. The only silver lining, is that the Marketplace is allegedly extending to console Simmers, but to share your mods on the Marketplace, you have to be approved by EAxis. Do you see it? The potential to censor mods and creators who don't "toe the line"? Am I thinking too far ahead? Maybe, but remember who owns our game now. And then there's this:
Makers may continue to offer free or paid early access custom content and mods on other platforms. However, content made available elsewhere is not eligible for sale through the Marketplace.
📰 Read the announcement: https://../news/the-sims-maker-program-and-marketplace
👹 Even if there was the possibility of me to getting approved as a "Maker", I could not in good conscience, share any of my mods on the Marketplace, because I would no longer have the option of offering them to anyone else, anywhere else, including for free. Welcome to the official version of ModCo and TSR, with the same !@#$ing modding restrictions for anyone approved! There it is! I'm awake and higher brain functions are now online! Despite whatever anyone tells you, this is not "for the community". This is for profit. Also, I'm (5) days late to this party!
⚠️ As with all of my posts of this nature, please remember that this post is PUBLIC, and comments on this post can be viewed publicly by everyone. I will engage with you in good faith whether you agree or disagree with me (as long as you engage with me in good faith), and I also welcome anyone to correct me if I'm wrong about anything, but I cannot speak for anyone else in the general Simming community, or even EAxis. Also, I have a laissez-faire attitude towards consequences for the things I say, because I believe that the things I say are correct and need to be said publicly, but I do not need you to put a target on yourself. If you agree that the Marketplace is a bad idea in its current incarnation, all you need to do is to not buy into it, and/or not become a "Maker" as a creator.
⋆ ── ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ⋆ \\🌸// ⋆ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ── ⋆
☆// ⋆ SOME CREATORS ARE SPEAKING OUT:
Maybe I'm wrong and enough of the community will actually take a stand against this?
[🎬] A Sims 4 Creator Just Left EA's Maker Program and Told Us Everything...
There's a pinned comment from a mod creator on this video, which states:
I really wish i could say more about what's behind this thing (and I'm sorry for choosing your comment section for it. Tumblr is too public).
My post about there being completely new file formats wasn't about the package files, but the way we were supposed to deliver the contents was like sending a dismantled cc, made with files that I would consider "alien", given the ones we work with on sims4studio.
The perfection part was... sketchy.
As you may see in the previews of other pack creators who made it to the final cut, they are Build items, CAS items that are basically just images (no shade to my colleagues of course, but I mean there's no 3D mesh involved), and this + the fact that the other CC pieces are OBJECTS, makes it EASIER for them to make many packs at once.
They wanted us to make packs of 10~20 items until the beginning of February, while some creators were contacted as early as May 2025 and some at OCTOBER (me included), making it a goal impossible to reach if you're trying to survive with commissions + a second job elsewhere.
Anyway, I still vow to give the other creators grace, because we were all caught in promises, but some of us had real advantages.
⋆ ── ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ⋆ \\😾// ⋆ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ── ⋆
☆// ⋆ THE MARKETPLACE WE NEED, BUT NOT THE ONE WE GOT:
The "Marketplace" should be a way for us to finally share our mods with console Simmers, on our own terms, without the caveat of forced monetization and modding restrictions.
This is what I mean when I say "this is not for the community".
Is real simple, Bubba.
The solution ain't rocket science.
Run it like Patreon.
Allow creators to monetize their mods if they choose to, then take cut from transactions.
That's "for the community".
Not this shit.
Do you suppose Electronic Arts doesn't make enough money from The Sims 4 to give us this without forcing monetization on us for their own benefit (and restricting our modding)?
By their own estimation, there are 70 MILLION of us.
That's a lot of pie to go around.
But greed is a hell of a thing, innit?
As creators, we have the power to steer the Marketplace towards becoming what we actually need: an official, cross-platform, mod-sharing platform, where we have the freedom to share our mods how we see fit.
As Simmers, we have the power to bury this shit if Electronic Arts refuses.
Electronic Arts, like Bethesda before them, has the means to give the community what it actually needs - and they damn well know what we need, because they weren't born yesterday.
Instead, they're choosing to play this fucking game.
☆// ⋆ IT'S BETHESDA ALL OVER AGAIN:
We've been down this road before. This !@#$ is gaming history for some of us.
It started with Skyrim:
Paid Mods (short for Purchasable Modifications) were a short-lived feature on the Steam Workshop introduced by Bethesda Softworks and Valve Corporation for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Using a "pay what you want" system, the mods could be purchased within a range of multiple prices, with proceeds being split amongst Bethesda, Valve, and the mod creators.
They were active from April 24th to 27th in 2015, initially starting with 19 mods, but were removed after receiving negative backlash from the community. All payments relating to the feature were later refunded, and the mods were removed from the Workshop, though those who had already purchased them were allowed to keep the mods.
[...]
-- The Elder Scrolls Mod Wiki [🌐]
[🌐] Apr. 23, 2015 -- Valve introduces paid mods into the Steam Workshop
[🌐] Apr. 24, 2015 -- Petition against Steam's paid Skyrim mods hits 80,000 signatures.
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Steam’s Most Popular Skyrim Mod Is A Protest Against Paid Mods
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Facing extreme abuse, Skyrim modders defend paid work.
I don't have a problem with creators wanting a lil something for the time and effort they put into creating their mods, but don't defend exploitative business practices.
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Bethesda Explains That Charging for 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim' Mods Is Not About Money But Is the Key to Getting More People Using Mods
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Valve's Paid 'Skyrim' Mods Are A Legal, Ethical And Creative Disaster
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Bethesda responds to outrage over paid Skyrim mods.
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Valve has removed paid mods functionality from Steam Workshop.
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Valve Nixes Paid Skyrim Mods After Huge Backlash
[🌐] Apr. 27, 2015 -- Valve Cancels Paid Mods For Skyrim
[🌐] July 17, 2015 -- Bethesda Talks Skyrim's Paid Mods Controversy
We killed it, but it came back in a different format in Fallout and Skyrim (again):
[...]
A somewhat similar system called the Creation Club was announced at E3 2017, though Bethesda stated that they would not be paid mods, and free mods would still remain untouched.
-- The Elder Scrolls Mod Wiki [🌐]
[🌐] June 12, 2017 -- Bethesda announces Creation Club, which looks like a new paid mod system, maybe (updated).
[🌐] June 12, 2017 -- What is Creation Club? Bethesda’s new scheme is a store for premium mods (in all but name).
[🌐] Aug. 29, 2017 -- Following paid mods fiasco, Bethesda launch Fallout 4 Creation Club
[🌐] Sept. 7, 2017 -- Bethesda: Fallout Creation Club "is not paid mods".
Then lo and behold, paid mods returned in a way that should sound real familiar:
[🌐] Dec. 6, 2023 -- Bethesda's New Update For Skyrim Reintroduces Paid Mods Under 'Creations' Banner
[🌐] Dec. 7, 2023 -- New Skyrim mod feature pulling the mod community apart.
On Tuesday, Bethesda published a surprise patch for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition that combined free mods and paid mods under a single Creations banner. It also eliminated the previous Creation Club section for Special Edition and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Anniversary Edition players. Players are able to upload free mods to Creations, but there’s also a new program called the Bethesda Game Studios Verified Creator Program.
Modders must apply to join the program, and if they’re approved, they’ll be able to get royalties from the sale of their mods — the only way to “officially” make money from mods. (Bethesda doesn’t otherwise let modders sell their creations, but there are ways around that for modders, like using Patreon or tip jars.) This is different from Skyrim’s Creation Club program, where previous paid mods were housed, as those modders were hired and paid by Bethesda as contractors. “Now, Verified Creators can be professionals who earn royalties directly from the sale of their Creations, with an easier path to releasing their work,” Bethesda said in its FAQ.
Which then extended to Starfield:
[🌐] Jun 17, 2024 -- Bethesda Charging For Mods Goes Against What Makes Them So Special
Mods, a feature previously locked behind PC versions and technical knowledge, was brought to home consoles. In theory, you could take the base experience of Fallout and Skyrim and kit them out with mods both beneficial and absurd. Turns out it was too good to be true, because, of course, Bethesda saw it as an opportunity to make some extra profit.
And now we're here with Electronic Arts:
[🌐] Mar. 4, 2026 -- "EA is basically reheating Bethesda's nachos": The Sims 4 Marketplace sparks angry fan reactions and comparisons to paid Fallout and Skyrim mods.
☆// ⋆ TBC...
This was not what I was intending to spend my morning on...
Tomorrow I will be ignoring this shit so we can get something done.
Tomorrow Is my day off, and I want to CASO and CAS Filters.
Comments (8)
i'm glad you, too, remember the days of LE Skyrim's Steam Creator Program and how fast that got taken down lol. i guess corps just tank the backlash nowadays which is insane to me. hell we have 2, count em 2 systems for paid mods in Skyrim once more in the present day
I remember when they published games as Electronic Art. That was great stuff. Today EA is just a extremely greedy firm that gives a sh*t as long cash keeps roiling in for the shareholders.. Always betting save, never taking risks. Just money money money.. Somewhere along the road and as they went on the stock market, they lost every bit of passion for gaming. Being a game developer with that spark to create and then get hired by EA must feel like being in prison.
Absolutely agree with it all. When I first saw the news, I thought, "Ohh nice! Now Console players can play with CC too!" .. but then I learned its going to be "fake currency" and that all changed. Like WHY?! Patreon is hosting Creators, and Simmers are paying for their CC, so EA said, "Hey! Its our platform! We want some too!" .. which wah wah its EA, sooo. But they SHOULD have made it a subscription service, exactly like TSR. It would be the perfect bridge between Simmers who cannot pay for multiple subscriptions on Patreon at once! And it would still accomplish their goal (of EA getting paid) ANNNND. Console players would still have access... I mean its the best of both worlds. But. This is EA we're talking about, sooooo of course, NOPE. I also wanted to point out, (maybe I missed it) but I didn't see you mention The Kits anywhere.? Idk if you're aware, but once this nonsense rolls out, all The Kits are moving to the Marketplace, to be "purchased" with freaking fairy money! ... this includes all existing kits and any kits they choose to release in the future. Absolute insanity how they're just carving out each letter of The Sims tombstone, day by day right now! But. Simmers absolutely have the power to bury this thing! The Community is massive! All we have to do is backlash and refusal just like Bethesda's conclusion! .... and as soon as someone in The Community figures out how to "decode" their strange "ghost mesh CC" ... wellll that will be it for it! (Ohhh and I have no doubt, someone will figure it out too!) We've got some real smart cookies in The Community! And now? We have some ANGRY, DETERMINED, smart cookies... reallllllly bad combination for EA, if I do say so myself!
I literally wanted to go cry in a corner when this news came out. One of my favorite things about the Sims has always been downloading FREE CC! CC shopping hauls are so fun!
I just hate every last bit of this really and have been SO upset about this, although 0% surprised. They see all that free CC going round and they want a piece of that Roblox type pie ( just host and rake in the cash). I predicted this last year but mainly about the new games, my guess is that they are trying out the system that will also be used in ProjectX and Project Rene. Also if you leave the platform, you lose all income from the CC but they still own it. Everything will also be exclusive to the platform, so if you are already paying for Patreon for a Creator all their best work will be behind another paywall. I've unsubbed those Creators for that reason. Also the fine print under de marketplace packs says that what you see in the image won't necessarily be in the pack ! So yeah it might look nice on the promo image, but might look terrible in game. No refunds and EA can't be blamed ofc! It stinks to high heaven and Creators only get a pittance ( maybe 30%?) for what they do and I assumed they will be responsible for bug fixes as well. Easy money for EA! Also easy to punish Creators for speaking out against EA as they can just shadow ban then and take away their income. The whole Moola crap is also terrible because it makes people spend more money, that they might not even have to spend. It's predatory and I think it can ruin the game completely. It's also integrated into the game, not like the shopping cart that takes you to an external site. So ( like with Sims 3 store) it will be part of the game and slow it down, and will be harder to avoid and build a mod against. Even the sims store could be turned off, this won't. I'm updating now, getting the kits I want ( all kits will be moved to the Marketplace) and updating my mods this week and uploading builds I still have. Because March 17th is the end for me. I hope you can still play offline after that else I have to pirate again ( what I did with Sims 3 in the end because of Origin, I did have all the physical packs though).
"Also if you leave the platform, you lose all income from the CC but they still own it." So, literally TSR (and ModCo?)... 😹 -- "Everything will also be exclusive to the platform, so if you are already paying for Patreon for a Creator all their best work will be behind another paywall." I raised this same complaint when ModCo popped up. -- "Also the fine print under de marketplace packs says that what you see in the image won't necessarily be in the pack ! So yeah it might look nice on the promo image, but might look terrible in game. No refunds and EA can't be blamed ofc!" What?! -- "It stinks to high heaven and Creators only get a pittance ( maybe 30%?) for what they do and I assumed they will be responsible for bug fixes as well. Easy money for EA!" 30%?! Creators signed onto this !@#$ery for 30%?! -- "The whole Moola crap is also terrible because it makes people spend more money, that they might not even have to spend. It's predatory and I think it can ruin the game completely." It is, and I agree. -- "It's also integrated into the game, not like the shopping cart that takes you to an external site. So ( like with Sims 3 store) it will be part of the game and slow it down, and will be harder to avoid and build a mod against. Even the sims store could be turned off, this won't." I will... see what I can do. -- "I'm updating now, getting the kits I want ( all kits will be moved to the Marketplace) and updating my mods this week and uploading builds I still have. Because March 17th is the end for me. I hope you can still play offline after that else I have to pirate again ( what I did with Sims 3 in the end because of Origin, I did have all the physical packs though). " I will also be doing a full backup. Thanks for bringing it up, I'll mention it in the post. Also, permit me to reiterate my commitment to creating mods for any version of the game. 💜
This whole situation just gets more and more upsetting...
It does indeed! 😾