Nexus Mods Owner Acquires SteamDB After Co-Founder Struggled With Burnout
The plan is to preserve SteamDB as a separate service while exploring how its extensive version history could help players identify incompatible mods and prepare for game-breaking updates.
Chosen, the parent company of Nexus Mods, has acquired SteamDB, the widely used third-party database that tracks player counts, prices, updates, builds, depots, manifests, and other information across Steam.
SteamDB was founded by xPaw and Marlamin in 2013. After Marlamin stepped away, maintaining the rapidly growing platform largely became the responsibility of xPaw. What began as a hobby project eventually required the attention of a full-time job, leading him to seek a new owner capable of providing greater resources and long-term stability. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
"After COVID and with the rise of AI, the internet we once loved is gone, and with it my passion. I have started experiencing burnout with the project, but I powered through. A few years ago I tried to find someone to continue the project, but I couldn't find a team that I was confident in, so I decided to keep going by myself."
- xPaw in SteamDB's Statement
Despite the change in ownership, SteamDB will retain its name, branding, website, browser extension, Discord server, Steam group, and community identity. Its existing free features will remain free, the two platforms will continue operating as separate services, and users will not need a Nexus Mods account to access SteamDB. xPaw will assist with the transition over the coming months.
The first significant changes will happen behind the scenes. Chosen intends to give SteamDB a properly funded team while investing in its infrastructure, security, scalability, browser extension, and game coverage.
The acquisition could theoretically eventually produce more visible improvements for mod users and gamers at large. SteamDB maintains years of historical data about game builds, files, updates, and manifests, which Nexus Mods believes could help mod managers determine whether a mod supports the player’s current game version, or warn them when an incoming update is likely to break it.
Based on reactions to the news today, the main driver of fear among the gaming community seems to be centered around the possibility of charging for the features that SteamDB has famously supported for free.
Nexus Mods seems adamant that won't be the case:
Everything currently available for free will remain free, the browser extension will continue to be maintained, and the Discord and Steam group will remain purely SteamDB community spaces. Nexus Mods and SteamDB will also remain completely separate services, so you won’t need a Nexus Mods account to browse it.
- Nexus Mods Announcement
What do you think this means for the future of SteamDB and Nexus Mods as a whole? And don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
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