DMCA Strikes Hit Cities: Skylines 2 and Terraria Mods — Valve Tweaks Policy, But Is It Enough?

Mods Are the Lifeblood – And They’re Under Fire Again

This story grabbed me the moment I saw Cities: Skylines 2 favorites disappearing mid-week. Mods aren’t just optional extras; they’re the glue that keeps strategy and sandbox communities thriving years after launch. When a wave of DMCA notices started hitting mods across Steam – including Cities: Skylines 2, Terraria, Hearts of Iron 4, Left 4 Dead 2, and Garry’s Mod – players watched features they rely on just blink out. The allegation from the community is blunt: many of these claims look bogus.

One case that set off alarm bells was the Cities: Skylines 2 “Move It” mod by Quboid — a staple for fine-grain building that was reportedly targeted, then had the notice removed. That whiplash is the core problem: a single claim can rip out functionality entire cities depend on, and if you’ve built saves around these tools, you’re stuck watching load screens error out.

Key Takeaways

• Mass DMCA reports hit popular mods across multiple games; players say many claims are baseless.
• Valve updated its policy to delete non-compliant reports and suspend spammy reporters — a real, if partial, fix.
• Even with the update, formally compliant (but bad-faith) claims can still force removals pending counter-notice.
• The chilling effect on creators is real: broken saves, stalled updates, and modders asked to do legal work for free.

Breaking Down the Mod Meltdown

According to a widely shared Reddit post, the mess began with a fallout between developers on a Hearts of Iron 4 mod, then spiraled into mass reports spraying across unrelated projects. That tracks with how the internet usually goes: one petty feud, everyone else catches shrapnel. The weird part is how broad the impact was — from historical grand strategy to Terraria’s tModLoader ecosystem and legacy Workshop behemoths like Garry’s Mod and Left 4 Dead 2.

For city builders, this is more than an inconvenience. Cities: Skylines 2 has leaned on its mod scene to make traffic manageable, add advanced placement tools, and even spin up map conversions. When those disappear, players don’t just lose flair; entire playstyles collapse. Terraria is similar — modpacks become unlaunchable when a key dependency vanishes overnight. The result is confusion, save corruption scares, and a lot of angry users who have no idea who’s claiming what or why.

Valve Steps In — What Changed and What Didn’t

Here’s the silver lining: Valve has updated its DMCA handling. As summarized by the community, Steam will now delete non-compliant takedown requests and suspend the reporter’s community access if they’re spamming. That’s not nothing. “Non-compliant” typically means missing key info (like a valid signature, contact details, or a specific copyrighted work) or an obviously bad-faith shotgun of claims.

But let’s be real about the limits. If a claim is technically compliant — even if it’s petty or malicious — platforms are still pushed by US law to remove content unless the accused files a counter-notice. Most modders don’t want to do that. It can mean sharing personal info and potentially inviting legal follow-up over unpaid community work. So yes, Valve’s policy shift filters out sloppy abuse, but clever abusers can still make life miserable.

There’s also the elephant in the room: mods are derivative works living at the mercy of both DMCA and publisher EULAs. That gray area is why clear, creator-friendly processes matter. Paradox Interactive declined to comment here, but official guidance and backup hosting options would help stabilize things for Cities: Skylines 2’s community when Workshop dominoes start falling.

Why This Matters Now

The timing stings. Cities: Skylines 2 launched with ambitious systems and a bumpy start, and modders have been filling gaps with tools that speed up building, fix quirks, and push the simulation in new directions. Terraria’s late-game replayability is practically synonymous with modpacks. When DMCA abuse lands, it doesn’t just remove toys — it kneecaps the games’ long-tail value and punishes the communities doing the heavy lifting.

We’ve seen this pattern before. Whether it’s GTA mods getting nuked in publisher sweeps, Nintendo fan projects vanishing overnight, or past Workshop disputes, platforms that react first and ask questions later create a chilling effect. Valve’s new guardrails are a start, but the real fix is process: labelled “under review” states that don’t immediately break dependencies, a verified-creators program, and a proxy counter-notice option that shields personal info while preserving legal compliance.

What Gamers Should Do (And What Platforms Should Do Next)

Practical tips for now: back up critical mods locally, snapshot your stable loadouts, and avoid updating huge modlists during flare-ups. If a favorite mod disappears, check the creator’s known channels and be patient before ripping out dependencies in panic — a lot of these takedowns are being reversed.

For Valve and publishers, the checklist is straightforward. Make takedown dashboards transparent so creators know who claimed what. Add friction to report submission (ID verification, rate limits) so “spray and pray” claims die at the door. Introduce a quarantine mode where a mod remains usable for existing subscribers while a dispute is reviewed, especially for projects with massive save dependencies. And, crucially, offer official mirrors or cross-platform mod hosting so one platform’s drama doesn’t bring entire communities to a halt.

Mods are love letters that keep our favorite games fresh. Protecting them isn’t just good PR; it’s good game design strategy. Valve’s policy tweak is a welcome move — now let’s see the rest of the industry meet players where they actually live: in our saves, our load orders, and our hundreds of hours of tinkering.

TL;DR

A wave of DMCA notices pulled popular mods for Cities: Skylines 2, Terraria, and more, with players alleging many claims were bogus. Valve will now delete non-compliant reports and punish spammers — helpful, but it won’t stop every bad-faith takedown. Back up your mods, watch for reversals, and hope platforms adopt stronger, creator-friendly safeguards.