Marvel Modders Stand Against Trump Ban

Summary

A Donald Trump character mod for the game Marvel Rivals has been removed from Nexus Mods, reportedly due to its sociopolitical nature, violating the platform's established rules against such content. NetEase Games, the developer of Marvel Rivals, has yet to comment on the use of character mods, including those depicting controversial figures.

Marvel Rivals, a recently released hero shooter, has quickly gained millions of players. Players are customizing their gameplay experience through mods, altering character models with skins from various Marvel sources and even incorporating models from other games like Fortnite.

A Nexus Mods user created and uploaded a mod replacing Captain America's model with that of Donald Trump. This mod gained traction on social media, with some users even seeking out a corresponding Joe Biden mod for matches. However, both the Trump and Biden mods are now inaccessible on Nexus Mods, indicating removal by the platform.

Reasons for Removal:

Nexus Mods' 2020 blog post established a policy against mods involving US sociopolitical issues. This policy, implemented around the 2020 presidential election, aimed to prevent potentially inflammatory content. The removal of the Trump mod aligns with this pre-existing policy.

Social media reaction to the ban has been mixed. While many players found the mod inappropriate given Captain America's established image, some expressed dissatisfaction with Nexus Mods' censorship of political imagery. It's worth noting that similar Trump mods exist for other games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and XCOM 2, suggesting the enforcement of this policy varies across games and platforms.

NetEase Games, the game developer, remains silent on the matter of character mods, focusing on addressing other in-game issues like bug fixes and resolving wrongful account bans. Their lack of response leaves the community's use of mods in a grey area.