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.

 

[soviet]

Funny how all their 'lil mistakes' involve threatening legal action or pulling the rug out from under other publishers for potential financial gain, waiting to see if there's a backlash, and then if there is going 'whoops sorry'.

The mistakes I make every day are about forgetting to do some sort of chore or administrative task. I very rarely accidentally try to back out of a legal promise I've made to other companies that their livelihoods depend on.

 

[Faolyn]

Do you produce anything worthwhile I would spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on? I haven't spend that much on WotC products 'recently', I've spent most of it on licensed products, like Wizkids miniatures, Lego lego, computer games and Foundry modules. I own physically the three core books 2014 (PHB 2x) and a couple of D&D boardgames/expansions. In the last decade I've only spent around $250 with WotC directly, many times that with their licensees. Before that... I own pretty much everything D&D 3e/4e, their minis lines (metal and plastic, D&D and Star Wars), most of their Star Wars line, etc.

I buy what I like, I don't care what the company behind that does or what the people who work there do. And what I like changes, so I might eventually buy everything 5e, I might not.

You're missing the point, which is there is a huge difference between an individual person and a company.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

This is what Nexus Mods said

"Hopefully, this is an oversight from WotC, who often use external agencies to hunt down violating content, and they will revert their decision," said the spokesperson. "Fingers crossed for Baldur's Village."

And that's what happened. The external agency flagged something they are within their rights to take down. But someone at Wizards thought that was not the right move and had it reversed.

I am honestly surprised people are mad they decided not to take down something they could take down.

 

[Nightfly]

I am honestly surprised people are mad they decided not to take down something they could take down.

By itself, this issue is a big nothing. Wizards did the right thing in the end, and they did it pretty quickly. Nothing to be mad about really.

But this is part of a pattern, and that's putting it mildly. WotC just cannot stop shooting themselves in the foot with anti-fan actions like this, and each incident pulls the scab off all the previous times they've taken a leak on the community's goodwill. They were already on probation, so to speak, and thus this incident lands very differently than it would in a vacuum. Wizards really needs to find a way to repair their relationship with the player base -- but before they can fill in that hole, they gotta stop digging.

 

[CleverNickName]

This is what Nexus Mods said


And that's what happened. The external agency flagged something they are within their rights to take down. But someone at Wizards thought that was not the right move and had it reversed.

I am honestly surprised people are mad they decided not to take down something they could take down.

Oh I'm not surprised; some people here want WotC's head on a spike no matter what happens, or what's done about it. (shrug)

 

[soviet]

This is what Nexus Mods said


And that's what happened. The external agency flagged something they are within their rights to take down. But someone at Wizards thought that was not the right move and had it reversed.

I am honestly surprised people are mad they decided not to take down something they could take down.

'Whoops we hired the Pinkertons!' A mistake anyone could make.

 

[CleverNickName]

As of right now, the "Baldur's Village" mod has been downloaded 43,476 times since it was first uploaded on March 8th, and it has already been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, German, and Turkish.

The SDV modding community is top-tier.

 

[Marandahir]

Wondering if this mod got more attention because of it, honestly?

I certainly hadn't heard of it before this thread.

 

[soviet]

Wondering if this mod got more attention because of it, honestly?

I certainly hadn't heard of it before this thread.

'Threatening legal action against people helps them'

 

[Thomas Shey]

'Threatening legal action against people helps them'

Sometimes it does end up doing that, but that doesn't mean its something you want to be on the receiving end of.