Tabletop Simulator developer Berserk Games has announced big changes coming this year, with “a series of major updates that we will be releasing for free with the goal of modernizing Tabletop Simulator and setting up the platform for success over the coming decade and beyond.”
Version 2.0 of the popular virtual tabletop will include a significant overhaul of the interface, making it easier to play and more Steam Deck-friendly. We’ll be able to switch between a “Play Mode” that is “designed to streamline gameplay and make the playing experience less cluttered and confusing” and an “Edit Mode” for “creators and power users who want expansive control over their creative process.”
So far, so good. It’s also hard to quibble with promises to improve the performance, graphics, online stability, and VR support. Some players aren’t so impressed by the promise to implement a Creator Marketplace for user-generated content, which is to say: paid mods.
While you can buy DLC to play games like Zombicide in Tabletop Simulator, the Steam Workshop is where the real action is. It’s full of unofficial mods recreating games like Uno and Settlers of Catan, as well as resources like D&D miniatures, all of which are available for free. The addition of a Creator Marketplace will, Berserk Games says, “expand the library of available Tabletop Simulator content without interfering with existing free Steam Workshop submissions.”
Not everyone believes that promise, which is why the Steam comments are the way Steam comments usually are, and on the subreddit there’s a doompost declaring that Tabletop Simulator is enshittifying into a Roblox-style marketplace. If modders are encouraged to monetize their work, the hypothesis goes, it’ll draw the litigious attention of more board game publishers and that’ll be it for unlicensed mods that let us play Advanced Heroquest or whatever. Sounds a bit cynical to me, but so does about 90% of what people post to Reddit.
