The founder of Nexus Mods, Robin ‘Dark0ne’ Scott, has announced he’s stepping back from the day-to-day running of the site, a full 24 years after founding it.
“I started this project back in 2001, in my bedroom, with a 56k modem, an excitement for the upcoming release of Morrowind and with no grand ambitions or intentions,” writes Scott. “I didn’t set out to build a business, I just wanted to make a place where modders could share their work without worrying it would vanish into the internet either the next time a fansite went offline or a publisher decided they were done with it.”
Nexus Mods is the biggest mod site in the world, and last year popped the cork on over 10 billion downloads. It boasts millions of users, hosts mods for thousands of games, and as it’s evolved has added excellent functionality and features like enabling creators to monetise their work. It’s honestly quite hard to imagine the PC gaming experience without Nexus Mods: it’s just such a useful, well-organised depository.
But that has come at some personal cost for Scott. Ever since it was founded Nexus Mods “has been my entire adult life. Every single day, for over two decades, I’ve been ‘on call’, whether it was fixing issues, reading feedback, pushing updates, or getting pulled into the latest bit of community drama. It’s been rewarding, sometimes chaotic, often exhausting and always personal.
“The strain of being responsible for the behemoth I created has taken its toll,” said Scott. “The stress of the job has been a regular source of anxiety and stress-related health issues. I realised that I have been burning out and this started to have an impact on my staff and Nexus Mods as a whole. So, I firmly believe that the best thing for the future of Nexus Mods is for me to step aside and bring in new leadership to steer the business forward with renewed energy to make Nexus Mods the modding community we all truly deserve.”
Scott believes he’s found “the exact right people for the task” and thus “the ownership of Nexus Mods has changed hands.” But from the user side of things, nothing should change. Scott says changes to the site’s structure are about long-term stability and the principles won’t change: “Nexus Mods is community-first and mod-author focused, that’s not up for negotiation.”
He also takes the time to emphasise that this hasn’t been a one-man show: “The Nexus Mods you see today has been created by a team of 40 incredibly dedicated people, some of whom have been here for over 9 years. They live and breathe modding, they care deeply, they’re experienced, committed, and they’re very much still here. None of that is changing.”
The site’s new co-leaders will be Foldeinho and Rapsak, both of whom have “deep roots in gaming, tech, and most importantly, they give a damn; about the site, the community, and the future we’re trying to build here.”
Scott says he’ll still be lurking around “and sticking my nose into community matters when I can’t help myself” but will no longer be the person “who signs off on every little thing… Frankly, that’s a good thing, for me, for the team, and for the future of Nexus Mods.”
I can say hand on heart that Nexus Mods is one of the single best things about PC gaming, and serves an incredibly important role in making mods more easily accessible, shareable, and just generally visible. Whether it’s sticking Thomas the Tank Engine in every game under the sun or being anal about fruit textures in Oblivion, mods are the beating heart of what makes PC such a special platform, and every PC gamer owes Robin Scott some measure of thanks. Here’s to his happy retirement: and pour one out for a real one.
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