Update 2:30pm PT: Wizards of the Coast has issued a assertion on the DMCA from earlier right this moment, saying that it occurred in error and apologizing for the scenario:
"The Baldur’s Village DMCA takedown was issued mistakenly – we are sorry about that," the assertion reads. "We are in the process of fixing that now so fans and the Stardew community can continue to enjoy this great mod!"
At the time of this replace, the mod was still under review, however it appears probably this might be rectified shortly.
Original story continues beneath:
Wizards of the Coast has issued a DMCA takedown discover on a fan mod of Stardew Valley that provides Baldur's Gate 3 characters, regardless of the mod beforehand having been publicly praised by Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke. And now, Vincke has responded to the takedown as nicely.
(*3*), the mod in query is entitled "Baldur's Village" and incorporates Baldur's Gate 3 characters into Stardew Valley. The mod released earlier this month, and shortly after, Vincke took to Twitter to reward it, saying "So much love went into this – amazing work!"
Unfortunately, simply weeks later, the mod is gone. According to a Nexus Mods spokesperson talking t PC Gamer, Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur's Gate IP holder Wizards of the Coast has issued a DMCA takedown of the mod. "Hopefully, this is an oversight from WotC, who often use external agencies to hunt down violating content, and they will revert their decision," stated the spokesperson. "Fingers crossed for Baldur's Village."
Then, simply right this moment, Vincke commented on the scenario again on Twitter, as soon as again expressing assist for the mod whereas acknowledging that IP safety is hard:
Protecting your IP may be difficult however I do hope this will get settled. There are good methods of coping with this.
— Swen Vincke @the place? (@LarAtLarian) March 31, 2025
"Free quality fan mods highlighting your characters in other game genres are proof your work resonates and a unique form of word of mouth," he stated. "Imho they shouldn't be treated like commercial ventures that infringe on your property. Protecting your IP can be tricky but I do hope this gets settled. There are good ways of dealing with this."
It's attainable that is half of a bigger crackdown from Wizards of the Coast round Baldur's Gate. As we realized at the Game Developers Conference earlier this month, we're supposedly going to listen to more about what the firm has deliberate for the IP "in pretty short order", so possibly this free Stardew Valley mod was someway in battle with that. Or possibly it was a mistake that can shortly be rectified. We've reached out to Wizards of the Coast for remark.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can discover her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].