A mod combines Stardew Valley with Baldur’s Gate 3 and even enchanted the CEO of Larian. However, Wizards of the Coast seemed to see their intellectual property at risk and had the mod taken offline. Now they are rowing back.
What kind of mod is it? “Baldur’s Village” is a mod for Stardew Valley that brings characters, places, and events from Baldur’s Gate 3 into the popular farming sim. Larian CEO Swen Vincke gushed at the release of the mod in early March on X: “So much love has gone into this – great job!”
But not everyone was pleased with the work: Wizards of the Coast, the rights holders of Dungeons and Dragons – and thus also Baldur’s Gate 3 – had Baldur’s Village blocked on Nexus Mods via a DMCA takedown.
WotC meanwhile has its own plans for the future of the franchise:
WotC says: It was just a mistake
This is the current state: On the night of April 1, 2025, Wizards of the Coast issued a statement and apologized for the incident: “The DMCA takedown against Baldur’s Village was mistakenly carried out. We are currently working to correct this so that fans and the Stardew community can continue to enjoy this great mod.” (Via PC Gamer)
Meanwhile, Baldur’s Village is even available for download again on Nexus Mods.
Previously, Vincke again spoke out on X in favor of the mod. Such high-quality fan creations are proof that the work resonates and are a unique form of word-of-mouth marketing. The CEO of Larian admits that it can be challenging to protect an IP, but there are better ways to handle such issues (via X).
What does the community say? They are glad that Baldur’s Village is back, but they are not fully convinced by WotC’s accidental copyright strike. A user quips on Reddit: “Seems like the legal department didn’t talk to the PR department before hitting the process button.”
There is also a discussion in the Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit that is laced with sarcasm:
- ImNotASWFanboy: “My goodness, mistakenly issued? That is terribly unfortunate. I hope WotC tightens its processes and controls in this area, so that such cases can be avoided and/or detected earlier.”
- Chicken_Ingots: “Yes, it would really be a shame if D&D fans accidentally boycotted their system in favor of other TTRPGs.”
The relationship between fans and Wizards of the Coast is anyway tense. The love that the community shows Baldur’s Gate 3 apparently does not extend to the rights holder. They have made a fortune with Baldur’s Gate 3, cutting the team behind Anthem 2.0’s new AAA game
