Mod support on consoles is possible today, and why you should consider it

The recent launches of both Xbox Series X and PS5 have generated renewed discussion about the future of modding and UGC on home consoles. Although a number of games, most notably Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition, have started to bring mods to consoles, it has yet to have the same impact as we've historically seen on PC.

There's still a perception among developers and gamers that console modding is 'too hard' or even impossible, unless you're a large studio or own the console platform, but in reality, mod support on consoles is easier than you think.

Skater XL announced this past week that mods will be making their way to the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game starting in December, thanks to mod.io. Snowrunner and TABS are also launching mod support on consoles in the near future, and Space Engineers are already using mod.io to enable UGC content sharing on Xbox.

While there are some technical considerations and additional steps required to gain approval for mod support on consoles, which we detail here, it's easier than you think to implement mod support into the console versions of your games. Mods are a powerful way to engage and retain players, and is something you should be considering across every platform your game is releasing on. 

Unless you’re a massive studio with a large development team, creating new content for your game is both costly and complicated, perhaps even more so than implementing mod support on console platforms. UGC is an alternative approach to this problem that can allow you to compete on every platform, and maximize the potential of your game, and your community.