For the first time ever in console gaming, Xbox One players will be able to download and install game mods created on and for PC without any form of pre-approval or manual approval. Microsoft has partnered with Paradox Interactive, the game development and software company behind such titles as Cities: Skylines, Stellaris, Europa Universalis, and Crusader Kings, to build the first game modification service for consoles.
Learn more about our all new modding solution premiering for Surviving Mars in this article by @GIBiz !?https://t.co/DrDeOQix09
— Paradox Interactive (@PdxInteractive) February 20, 2019
In the past, some games did give console gamers the option to enhance their gaming experience with player-created content. Fallout 4 developer Bethesda enabled game modifications for the game first on Xbox One and then on PS4 a few months later. However, the difference there is Bethesda had to manually and individually approve each modification for a lot of underlying factors, including security and copyrights. Now, with the launch of the Paradox Mods service, console gamers will be able to enjoy the same game-enhancing mods that have evaded them for years.
Paradox Interactive’s own Surviving Mars is now the first Xbox One title to use the new modding platform to allow users to upload, share, and install mods created by other players without the typical pre-approval process that made it difficult for mods to make it to console gaming in the first place.
According to Anders Törlind, programming manager at Paradox Interactive, the goal of the platform is to provide Xbox One players with the same variety and assortment of mods available to PC users.
By bringing mods to console gaming - an industry-changing move on the part of Microsoft and Paradox Interactive - Microsoft has taken a significant step towards its goal of blurring the lines between gaming on different platforms. The company has done a pretty good job of that so far. In 2016, Microsoft announced that it would no longer block cross-platform play, making it possible for PC gamers to play their favorite titles with friends whether they were on PC or Xbox One. Afterwards, Microsoft introduced Play Anywhere, which allowed customers to play both the PC and Xbox Editions of video game titles they purchase. Now, with the availability of mods on Xbox One, PC and console gaming are getting closer to becoming seamless experiences with the line dividing the two platforms getting thinner and thinner.
