When SimCity launched the community were unsure what Maxis’ stance would be on modding and they’ve been rather quiet on whether they would actively support it or not.
Today Maxis has finally broken silence and released a statement to the community in which they state they are going to be supporting modding of the game but with restrictions.
Maxis call modding User Generated Content and their list of acceptable mod types currently goes like this.
- Acceptable UGC and mods do not jeopardize the integrity of the gameplay or harm the experience of others.
- UGC that effects the simulation for multiplay games and features are not allowed.
- Examples of acceptable UGC include swapping art assets, like buildings and vehicles.
- Maxis reserves the right to take disciplinary action against players who break the rules.
This is a first draft of what they think will be acceptable and they’re now asking for further community feedback on the subject.
With Maxis about to release an expansion and on-going DLC being released for the game, it’s going to be tricky to ascertain what exactly they deem acceptable. The final point has to be there to stop cheats but this is a discussion that could run and run within the community.
Will players want to take the risk by creating a mod that Maxis could deem unacceptable at any point? It’s early days but Maxis are at least taking a step in the right direction. Before you ask, modding larger maps or an offline mode is not going to happen based on their bullet list.
