Sony makes Skyrim and Fallout 4 mods exclusive to the Xbox One

Being able to mod games is an important reason why PC games turn down consoles and why gamers are suspicious of the Windows Store.

Microsoft addressed this issue directly by working with Bethesda to enable mod support on their Skyrim and Fallout 4 games, with mod support being available on Fallout 4 since May this year.

Mods could be created on the PC creation kit and then downloaded via Bethesda.netto play on your console.

Now Sony has effectively made this feature exclusive to the Xbox One, after Sony decided not to support the feature on their console.

Writing on their website they say:

After months of discussion with Sony, we regret to say that while we have long been ready to offer mod support on PlayStation 4, Sony has informed us they will not approve user mods the way they should work: where users can do anything they want for either Fallout 4 or Skyrim Special Edition.
Like you, we are disappointed by Sony’s decision given the considerable time and effort we have put into this project, and the amount of time our fans have waited for mod support to arrive. We consider this an important initiative and we hope to find other ways user mods can be available for our PlayStation audience. However, until Sony will allow us to offer proper mod support for PS4, that content for Fallout 4 and Skyrim on PlayStation 4 will not be available.

Microsoft has been quick to capitalize on this, tweeting:

Mod support ?
Backward Compatibility ?
Fastest, most reliable gaming network ? https://t.co/XS7pwdZWHB

— Xbox UK (@xboxuk) September 9, 2016

Forbes note that even the limited, controlled form of modding on the Xbox One (no nudity, no copyright content, limited file sizes) works to extend the life of a game, which could mean increased income for developers, and may tilt the console playing field slightly in Microsoft’s direction.

Are mods important to our readers? Let us know below.