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.

 

[KYRON45]

The account of the Pinkertons incident by the people it happened to seemed at least extreme enough that the guy's wife was reduced to tears by it: Magic publishers sent Pinkerton agents to a YouTuber’s house to retrieve leaked cards

I don’t want to minimize the fear and confusion they may have felt at the time.
Was the situation FUBAR…of course.
But just saying “Pinkertons” doesn’t mean what people think it means.

 

[Incenjucar]

I don’t want to minimize the fear and confusion they may have felt at the time.
Was the situation FUBAR…of course.
But just saying “Pinkertons” doesn’t mean what people think it means.

? It was literally the Pinkertons.

 

[Faolyn]

I don’t want to minimize the fear and confusion they may have felt at the time.
Was the situation FUBAR…of course.
But just saying “Pinkertons” doesn’t mean what people think it means.

Look, they have a really bad and really scary reputation, and they have continued to do questionable things even up until recently.

So even if these agents were very nice, polite individuals, they still have the weight of their company's not-undeserved reputation behind them.

 

[KYRON45]

Look, they have a really bad and really scary reputation, and they have continued to do questionable things even up until recently.

So even if these agents were very nice, polite individuals, they still have the weight of their company's not-undeserved reputation behind them.

I’m sure when they knocked on the door and identified themselves; the family looked up the company history. Not everyone is the know it all people on the internet pretend to be.

I’m not sure what the outcome of this conversation is supposed to be so…you win I guess.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Look, they have a really bad and really scary reputation, and they have continued to do questionable things even up until recently.

And as flexes go, "they haven't murdered any union activists lately, that we know of" is a pretty sad one.

 

[Gradine]

I mean... it's not like a bunch of people made a big deal out of the whole Pinkerton thing because nobody had ever heard of them before...

NGL it would be infinitely more amusing; if not deeply concerning; if the actual main internet reaction to the whole thing was instead "Why would WotC send some people Weezer's worst album?"

 

[CleverNickName]

And as flexes go, "they haven't murdered any union activists lately, that we know of" is a pretty sad one.

Unless you are using "lately" to mean "in the last century."

 

[KYRON45]

I mean... it's not like a bunch of people made a big deal out of the whole Pinkerton thing because nobody had ever heard of them before...

NGL it would be infinitely more amusing; if not deeply concerning; if the actual main internet reaction to the whole thing was instead "Why would WotC send some people Weezer's worst album?"

You're right. no one on the internet has over reacted to anything before. What was i thinking for having my own opinion on the matter?

 

[Dire Bare]

I mean... it's not like a bunch of people made a big deal out of the whole Pinkerton thing because nobody had ever heard of them before...

NGL it would be infinitely more amusing; if not deeply concerning; if the actual main internet reaction to the whole thing was instead "Why would WotC send some people Weezer's worst album?"

Hey! Weezer doesn't have bad albums! Pinkerton is great!

Well, okay, still not their best, sure . . .

 

[Older Beholder]

Look, they have a really bad and really scary reputation, and they have continued to do questionable things even up until recently.

So even if these agents were very nice, polite individuals, they still have the weight of their company's not-undeserved reputation behind them.

The same could be said for the reputation of some* YouTubers

*added in edit