User blog comment:The Rim of the Sky/Skyrim Steam Workshop Now Allowing Purchasable Mods/@comment-26017205-20150424113726

Once mods get monetized for something like Skyrim, EVERY publisher is going to start implementing paid modding. And then they are going to put "incentives"(read 'roadblocks') to funnel people into this paid system so that they get money for work that isn't theirs. They will absolutely make it harder for free mods to exist, just like they made it harder for mods to exist on games that sell map packs.

Eventually we are going to see licenses required to publish mods. Eventually people are going to essentially be fixing and making games for PENNIES while publishers rake in even more money. Ever since publishers saw how big mods could be though, they have been absolutely looking for ways to monetize them. This is their gateway.

This WILL destroy modding. It might not happen for a year, or five years, or even ten years from now, but it will happen. One of the best things about PC gaming will be gutted. They will get us into it slowly, with only a few mods costing a quarter here, or a dollar there, but it will lead to fan-made, $20 mods where the publisher of the game receives most of the money AND relies on mods to make their broken, half-finished games better.