Microsoft and Paradox Create New Modding Platform for Xbox One and PC

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While mods have been dominant on PC for years, they’ve only recently been making ground on consoles, specifically Xbox One. Mods have also usually been confined to Steam Workshop, third-party sites, or cherry-picked storefronts created by game publishers. Today, Paradox Interactive announced that it has partnered with Microsoft to create Paradox Mods, and independent modding platform for both PC and Xbox One.

The service is launching via a free update to Surviving Mars today with over 30 mods. While that is the only game that will be supported at launch, Paradox did confirm that other titles will be getting supported later this year. Cities: Skylines is available on Xbox One and Stellaris: Console Edition is releasing soon, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see those titles get supported.

Microsoft and Paradox describe Paradox Mods as “the first direct pipeline modders have to publish work on consoles.” Modders will apparently only have to upload their creations one time, either in game or on a web page, and it will be distributed to both the Xbox One and PC versions of the games it supports. Paradox Mods Product Owner Anders Törlind gave a bit more insight as to why this was created, saying “as we have diversified the way we distribute our games, we want to make sure all our players can take part in the creation process.”

“We really look forward to unlocking the world of modding for all members of our community, regardless of what system they are using to play our games,” Ander also said. He also calls the first Surviving Mars mods added “some of the best mods available,” specifically naming the creators Silva and ChoGGi. When in game, players will simply have to open the mods catalog and simply select what they want to add. This update actually adds Keyboard and Mouse support to the Xbox One version of Surviving Mars as well, so Paradox Interactive really seems to be trying to make this a smooth transition.