WotC WotC (Mistakenly) Issues DMCA Takedown Against Baldur's Gate-themed Stardew Valley Mod

Wizards of the Coast recently issued a DMCA takedown notice against Baldur's Village, a popular fan-created Stardew Valley mod which was based on Baldur's Gate 3.

Created by a modding team called Nexus Mods, the mod featured BG3 characters such as Astarion and Shadowheart, 20+ NPCs, and various locations and events. The mod, which has had over 4,000 downloads, took over a year to make, according to the team, and garnered praise from Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larion, the company which made Baldur's Gate 3, who also posted about the situation on Twitter:

“Free quality fan mods highlighting your characters in other game genres are proof your work resonates and a unique form of word of mouth. Imho they shouldn’t be treated like commercial ventures that infringe on your property. Protecting your IP can be tricky, but I do hope this gets settled. There are good ways of dealing with this.”

The mod went into "moderation review" on March 29th. However, it seems this was a 'mistake'--WotC has since issued a statement:

"The Baldur's Village DMCA takedown was issued mistakenly—we are sorry about that. We are in the process of fixing that now so fans and the Stardew community can continue to enjoy this great mod!"

So, the mod is back again! To use it you need the have the Stardew Modding API, the Content Patcher, and the Portraiture mod.

This isn't the first time WotC has 'erroneously' issued takedown notices against fans. In August 2024, the company took action against various YouTubers who were previewing the then-upcoming 2024 D&D Player's Handbook. A few days later, after some public outcry, WotC reversed its decision.

 

[Dire Bare]

Why don't you care?

Why should I care?

WotC made a mistake, suffered immediate backlash, and then corrected for their mistake.

Stardew players and BG fans get their mod after all and life moves on.

On the list of corporate screw-ups, this is way down on the list of things I care about.

Why don't I care? I just turn on the news each night, and things like this seem so small and unaffecting.

 

[DarkCrisis]

WotC is a corp and a corp is gonna corp. Why people are shocked that they corpy corp corp, I'll never understand.

 

[Faolyn]

WotC made a mistake, suffered immediate backlash, and then corrected for their mistake.

The problem is they keep making dumb mistakes, and they only seem to fix them if there's sufficient backlash. It's not a good look for them, and each time they make a mistake like this, they end up losing a few more customers. And that means that in order to make the shareholders happy, they'll end up cutting production values further, raise prices, pay their employees less, and so on.

Why don't I care? I just turn on the news each night, and things like this seem so small and unaffecting.

It is possible to care about both big and small things at the same time. Especially when you can at least try to do something about the small things (e.g., spend your money elsewhere), because it's impossible for most of us to do anything about the big things.

 

[Dire Bare]

The problem is they keep making dumb mistakes, and they only seem to fix them if there's sufficient backlash. It's not a good look for them, and each time they make a mistake like this, they end up losing a few more customers. And that means that in order to make the shareholders happy, they'll end up cutting production values further, raise prices, pay their employees less, and so on.

Yes, WotC keeps making mistakes. Some big, some small like this one. I think it's because . . . WotC is comprised of humans.

I know my own parade of mistakes is never-ending, and every organization I've ever been a part of magnifies the mistakes of the individuals within.

It is possible to care about both big and small things at the same time. Especially when you can at least try to do something about the small things (e.g., spend your money elsewhere), because it's impossible for most of us to do anything about the big things.

I tend to let the small things go. This is small. I also tend to forgive the mistakes of others, if they make efforts to correct or account for them.

Did WotC truly goof (oopsie!) or did they make a deliberate choice they are now seeing as a mistake and walking back? We have no way of knowing, so I'm going to assume oopsie and move on with my life. Heck, even if they are walking back a deliberate choice, they are walking it back. I'm good.

 

[Faolyn]

Yes, WotC keeps making mistakes. Some big, some small like this one. I think it's because . . . WotC is comprised of humans.

I know my own parade of mistakes is never-ending, and every organization I've ever been a part of magnifies the mistakes of the individuals within.

Are you a corporation who is responsible for a major product? Do you have people whose job it is to prevent your mistakes from happening in the first place?

And it hardly matters. If you keep making stupid mistakes, then I'm not going to enable you by giving you money.

I tend to let the small things go. This is small. I also tend to forgive the mistakes of others, if they make efforts to correct or account for them.

But they don't seem to make efforts to fix things unless they suffer a large amount of backlash. That's not trying to correct or account for mistakes; they're not genuinely trying to be better people. This is them not wanting you to take your money elsewhere.

And this isn't a small thing; it's a pattern of behavior.

 

[The Soloist]

The RPG Youtubers must be sharpening their knives. Their monthly cash flow will go up thanks to a Rage Bait thumbnail.

 

[Dire Bare]

Are you a corporation who is responsible for a major product? Do you have people whose job it is to prevent your mistakes from happening in the first place?

Nope. And?

I mean, if this particular mistake on WotC's part is a bridge to far for you . . . or if you've already crossed that bridge . . . okay.

For me, I'm not overly bothered by this mistake . . . and many of the other smaller mistakes WotC has made over the years. I'm also not bothered by some of the larger mistakes WotC has made . . . that they have addressed and fixed.

Is WotC a company MORE prone to mistakes than other corporations or large organizations? Not in my experience, no. I save my ire for companies that seem to deliberately prioritize profit at the EXPENSE of workers, customers, and the environment over and over again. WotC has not demonstrated this level of evil corporateness, in my view.

But they don't seem to make efforts to fix things unless they suffer a large amount of backlash. That's not trying to correct or account for mistakes; they're not genuinely trying to be better people. This is them not wanting you to take your money elsewhere.

You sure about that? Would WotC have failed to correct this error without the backlash? Perhaps, we don't really know, now do we? Would WotC have even been aware of this mistake without the backlash?

I mean, in my own personal life, that's often when I realize I've screwed up. When other people tell me, sometimes angrily.

 

[CleverNickName]

The RPG Youtubers must be sharpening their knives. Their monthly cash flow will go up thanks to a Rage Bait thumbnail.

Whatever gets the clicks, right? I can practically see the YouTube thumbnails now...blocky yellow text, comically oversized arrows, exclamation points and "shocked" faces...

 

[DEFCON 1]

Why don't you care?

I buy products, I don't buy the companies who provide products.

I have no relationship with a company prior to a transaction, the transaction itself takes a few moments, and then once the transaction itself is over I have no relationship with the company afterwards.

So as long as I'm fine with the product I choose to purchase... anything else is nothing I care about.

 

[DEFCON 1]

A topic of conversation doesn't have to be a dramatic 'breaking point' to be valid. That seems a ... limiting ... way of determining the viability of conversations.

As long as some people are interested in talking about it, any topic is valid. That's how conversation works.

Of course! And that's why I didn't ping you to lock the thread so that no one else couldn't talk about it anymore.