After getting recognition from the modding community, game studio CD Projekt RED was quick to action in shutting down a particular mod for controversial game Cyberpunk 2077.
The mod in question allowed players to have sex with Johnny Silverhand that was based on popular actor Keanu Reeves. It manually swapped character skin textures onto other models. This swapped skins of Silverhand with a sexbot joytory in the game. CDPR was not amused.
Popular modding website Nexus Mods hosted the mod for a while, but after a few hours it got removed. The website only gave a single sentence saying “clearing things out with CDPR.”
Media outlet PC Gamer reached out to CDPR and was given the following statement:
Our most important rule regarding user-generated content, game mods in particular, is that it can’t be harmful towards others. In the case of model swaps, especially those that involve explicit situations, it can be perceived as such by the people who lent us their appearance for the purpose of creating characters in Cyberpunk 2077.
Therefore, when making fan content, creators have to make sure they’ve got permission from all the concerned parties (which might be people other than CD PROJEKT RED). For the characters we’ve invented for the game, we broadly permit you to tweak the game at will and just have fun. When it comes to models of real people whom we’ve asked to participate in the game, we kindly ask you to refrain from using them in any situation that might be found offensive if you don’t have their explicit permission.
So, modders will have to be careful with what to character skin swap next.
Cyberpunk 2077 is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions are coming possibly within this year.
Source: PC Gamer