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=== Realism ===
The desire to enhance game realism is a factor in the recreation of real-world elements through modding. Real-life locations are added via modding to extend the map, such as the addition of Polish settlements and landmarks in [[Euro Truck Simulator 2|''Euro Truck Simulator 2'']]. In games such as ''Euro Truck Simulator'' and [[Second Life|''Second Life'']], mods accurately reproduce brands and real-life products, while others invent fictitious brands that share similarities to real ones, such as 'McDowel' restaurant mods for ''Second Life'', which imitate [[McDonald's]].<ref name=":21" /> Modders have recorded weapon sounds to be used for their mods.<ref name="auto3" />
Mods can be a tool to create diversity and recreate body images from real life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sihvonen |first=Tanja |title=Players unleashed! modding the Sims and the culture of gaming |date=2011 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-8964-201-1 |series=Mediamatters |___location=Amsterdam |chapter=Extending the game}}</ref> For players who identify as [[LGBTQ people|LGBTQ]], motivations for modding can stem from a lack of representation in the game and the modding community.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Welch |first=Tom |date=December 2018 |title=The Affectively Necessary Labour of Queer Mods |url=https://gamestudies.org/1803/articles/welch |journal=Game Studies |volume=18 |issue=3 |issn=1604-7982}}</ref> Options for homosexual romance and character genders are made available through "queer mods", as dubbed by Researcher Evan Lauteria. Examples include the "Equal Love Mod" for [[Dragon Age: Origins|''Dragon Age: Origins'']] and a similar mod for [[Mass Effect (video game)|''Mass Effect'']], which enable romance with characters normally unavailable for their protagonist's gender. Lauteria theorized that queer mods can be an act of "resistance" against the limitations on sexual normativity enacted by the game, such as compulsory heterosexuality.<ref name="Lauteria">{{cite journal |last1=Lauteria |first1=Evan W |date=2015 |title=Ga(y)mer Theory: Queer Modding as Resistance |url=http://reconstruction.digitalodu.com/Issues/122/Lauteria_Evan.shtml |journal=Reconstruction |volume=12 |issue=2}}</ref>
== Impact ==
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===Controversial mods===
Mods can alter games to reveal nudity and explicit content or introduce it via modded graphics. "Sex mods"
Mods can alter games to reveal nudity and explicit content or introduce it via modded graphics. After the [[Hot Coffee (minigame)|"Hot Coffee" mod incident]], the games industry called for better control of explicit mods.<ref name="auto" />{{Explain|date=August 2025}} In 2025, [[Take-Two Interactive]] filed a [[DMCA]] complaint against two nude mods, hosted on Nexus, for a character in ''[[Mafia: The Old Country]]''.<ref name="Wolens">{{Cite web |last=Wolens |first=Joshua |date=2025-08-20 |title=Take-Two lawyers give Mafia nude mods the cement shoes treatment, DMCA projects that had the Don's daughter parading in the buff |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/take-two-lawyers-give-mafia-nude-mods-the-cement-shoes-treatment-dmca-projects-that-had-the-dons-daughter-parading-in-the-buff/ |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Kotaku]]'' noted that the later-removed mods tweaked the game's preexisting nude character model, simply allowing it to appear throughout the game.<ref name="Zwiezen">{{Cite web |last=Zwiezen |first=Zack |date=2025-08-20 |title=Mafia: The Old Country Nude Mod Removed By Take-Two |url=https://kotaku.com/mafia-old-country-nude-mod-removed-take-two-lawyers-2000618893 |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=[[Kotaku]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Bethesda Softworks]] does not allow mods with nudity to be uploaded to its platforms.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}} Nexus Mods allows for mods with nudity as long as nudity is not present in the preview image for the download page, such as Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Edition, which allows for body modification in Bethesda's ''Skyrim'' and ''[[Fallout 4]]'' and has been downloaded at least 8.2 million times.<ref name="auto8" /> Video game mods are subject to [[Pornography laws by region|regional legislation on pornography]]. Nexus Mods plans to add [[Age verification system|age verification]] to mods containing explicit content to comply with the [[Online Safety Act 2023|Online Safety Act]] in the UK and [[Digital Services Act]] in the EU.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hansford |first=Amelia |date=2025-07-02 |title=Top video game modding website to put adult content behind age checks |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/07/02/nexus-mods-adult-content-age-checks/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=PinkNews {{!}} Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news {{!}} LGBTQ+ news |language=en-US}}</ref>▼
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Game developers and publishers retain the discretion to limit and remove political and [[Discrimination|discriminatory]] mods for their games. In 2016, [[Paradox Interactive]] took down a Steam Workshop mod for their game ''[[Stellaris (video game)|Stellaris]]'' which replaced non-white human characters with white ones, stating that they did not "wish to enable discriminatory practices".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=2016-05-24 |title=Paradox removed a Steam mod that eliminates non-whites from Stellaris |url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/5/24/11760696/paradox-removes-discriminatory-mod-that-removed-non-white-races-from-stellaris |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=2016-05-25 |title=Stellaris mod that makes all humans "European" is back on the Steam Workshop |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/paradox-pulls-stellaris-mod-that-makes-all-humans-european/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Orland |first=Kyle |date=2016-05-25 |title=Paradox's removal of Stellaris' "Whites Only" mod draws controversy [Updated] |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/05/paradoxs-removal-of-stellaris-whites-only-mod-draws-controversy/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=Ars Technica |language=en}}</ref> As of 2025, EA's mod policy stated that they held the right to "address any inappropriate Mods", including those with obscene or objectionable content.<ref name=":10">{{Cite magazine |last=Yzola |first=Alana |title=EA Tried to Stop an 'Anti-DEI Mod' for 'The Sims 4'—but More Keep Surfacing |url=https://www.wired.com/story/ea-tried-to-stop-an-anti-dei-mod-for-the-sims-4-but-more-keep-surfacing/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> In the same year, the company submitted a [[Notice and take down|copyright infringement notice]] to forums hosting a ''The Sims 4'' mod which altered or removed representations of [[LGBTQ people|LGBTQ]] and Black people.<ref name=":10" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=There are now "anti-DEI" mods infesting The Sims 4 |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-sims-4-anti-dei-mods-ea |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=AV Club |language=en-US}}</ref> Additionally, mod-hosting websites have removed potentially objectionable or divisive mods. In 2020, ahead of the [[2020 United States presidential election|United States presidential election]], Nexus Mods removed a mod for [[Marvel Rivals|''Marvel Rivals'']] which replaced the model for Captain America with one of Donald Trump, citing content that promotes "conflict, division and mob harassment" would be removed as per the website's Terms of Service.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cruz |first=Christopher |date=2025-01-09 |title='Marvel Rivals' Has a Donald Trump Problem |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-gaming/marvel-rivals-donald-trump-mod-ban-1235230261/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morics |first=Peter |date=2020-10-02 |title=Nexus Mods Bans Mods Based On U.S. Politics |url=https://screenrant.com/nexus-mods-bans-us-politics/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref> The website has removed several mods that targeted LGBTQ representation, including a mod which removed [[Pride flag|Pride flags]] from [[Marvel's Spider-Man (video game)|''Marvel's Spider-Man'']];<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Grayson |first1=Nathan |last2=Klimentov |first2=Mikhail |last3=Michel |first3=Jamal |date=2022-08-19 |title='Spider-Man' modification scene turns into Pride flag battlefield |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/08/19/spider-man-remastered-pride-flag-mod-nexus/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> a mod which changed the gender of an [[non-player character]] (NPC) in a same-sex relationship in ''Baldur's Gate 3'';<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Kyle |date=2023-12-06 |title=Controversial Baldur's Gate 3 Mod Removed |url=https://gamerant.com/baldurs-gate-3-anti-gay-mod-removal/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=Game Rant |language=en}}</ref> and a mod which changed the "body type" option to male or female for ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=2025-04-25 |title=Nexus Mods decides to allow an Oblivion Remastered mod that changes 'body type' options to male/female, declares it's not 'a battleground for broader cultural or political debates' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/nexus-mods-decides-to-allow-an-oblivion-remastered-mod-that-changes-body-type-options-to-male-female-declares-its-not-a-battleground-for-broader-cultural-or-political-debates/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref>
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