There has been excitement on Twitch and YouTube over a decision by NexusMods, the largest site for modifications for PC games on the internet. NexusMods has banned a modification that incorporates Donald Trump into the current Steam hit Marvel Rivals. The modding site of Twitch streamer Asmongold has been accused of having completely false moral standards. The site responds.
Here is the accusation: Twitch streamer Asmongold accused NexusMods in a video from January 6 of hypocrisy and false moral standards:
- NexusMods have banned a modification that turns the superhero Captain America in Marvel Rivals into a version of Donald Trump
- At the same time, they allow mods that sexualize canonically underage characters in video games
Asmongold explained that modding represents the freedom of players. There should be no authority that restricts players in their freedom. In Asmongold’s own words:
Your priorities are completely wrong. You should have no administrative control over anything. If that’s your tier list of values, something is wrong with you.
Asmongold via youtube.com
His editor added: There has always been hypocrisy on NexusMods, stating there have “always” been mods about left-wing politicians that were ignored by moderation, and that they also tolerated mods that openly mocked Trump.
The YouTube video “This is so f*cking stupid” reached 1 million views in 2 days.
In the comments on YouTube, people agree that the NexusMods site has always been “overly political”, claiming they have a clear left-leaning tilt.
Site says: They removed exactly the same mod with Joe Biden as well
This is the response from the site: In a statement on reddit, the community manager of NexusMods clarified: They also removed the exact same mod with Joe Biden from the site on January 2:
There is no political bias. We don’t want any crazies coming out of the woodwork every time such mods appear on our site.
The community manager added that he found it funny that none of the “outrage-bait” YouTubers mentioned that the Biden mod was also removed.
Death threats and allegations of pedophilia after YouTube video
Today more crazies are coming and sending them death threats and calling them pedophiles because “some YouTubers told them that they only remove the Trump mods.”
Quote:
It’s so dumb, the people are so damn dumb that I really don’t want to deal with it. I don’t expect my staff to interact with them more than to show them the door to exit.
While NexusMods doesn’t explicitly mention the name “Asmongold”, that seems to be the direction of the criticism against outrage YouTubers.
“Many misinformation circulating”
Today, on January 8, a more fact-based statement from NexusMods was released (via x):
- They criticize that many false information is circulating
- They want to be a site that builds a positive modding community
- However, there are also mods that cause conflicts and division
- In 2020, they established in the site guidelines that all mods related to American politics would be removed from the site. They removed not only the Trump mod but also mods for Marvel Rivals that contain Obama or Biden
- They are a small UK company and have no interest in US politics and do not want the site to be used as a platform for discussions on US politics
- They do not see themselves as an authority on what is allowed in modding and what is not. Those who want these mods can find them on other sites
This is behind it: NexusMods has faced criticism from US YouTubers in the past for removing mods from the site that removed diversity symbols like the LGBTQ pride flag from games. Or that in Starfield they removed the pronouns. The site apparently wants to stand for diversity and tolerance. From a European perspective, seeing this as an “extreme leftist bias” is difficult. There seem to be different standards in the US that are confusing even for the British.
The reaction of the community manager clearly shows the tremendous waves that such videos from outspoken YouTubers like Asmongold can cause: His statements are believed uncritically and adopted and spread by his fans.
If you accuse sites in passing, as if collateral damage, of endorsing pedophilia and 1 million people see that, some of whom issue death threats, one must ask whether one is fulfilling a certain responsibility for reach.
Perhaps Asmongold should remember that just a few weeks ago he said he had transformed into the worst version of himself and now wanted to change. Apparently, little of that remains: Asmongold is back on Twitch and regrets some of his worst statements – to the dismay of some fans
