Marvel Rivals Donald Trump Mod Reportedly Banned

Summary

A Donald Trump character mod for the game Marvel Rivals has been removed from Nexus Mods, reportedly due to its sociopolitical nature, violating the platform's established rules against such content. NetEase Games, the developer of Marvel Rivals, has yet to comment on the matter or the broader issue of character mods within the game.

Marvel Rivals, a recently released hero shooter, has quickly gained millions of players. The game's modding community has been active, creating modifications ranging from cosmetic skin changes to more substantial alterations of character models, including instances of replacing default characters with models from other franchises like Fortnite.

A mod replacing Captain America's model with Donald Trump circulated on social media, prompting some users to seek out a corresponding Joe Biden mod for competitive matches. However, both the Trump and Biden mods are now inaccessible on Nexus Mods, resulting in error messages indicating their removal.

Reasons for Removal:

Nexus Mods' policy, established in 2020 amidst a politically charged US election, prohibits mods related to US sociopolitical issues. This policy, implemented to maintain a neutral platform, led to the removal of the Trump mod. The decision has generated mixed reactions online, with some players understanding the ban while others expressing dissatisfaction with Nexus Mods' stance on political content in mods. This isn't an isolated incident; while many similar Trump mods have likely been removed from Nexus Mods, others persist in games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and XCOM 2.

Developer Response:

NetEase Games, the developer of Marvel Rivals, has not publicly addressed the use of character mods, including those featuring controversial figures. The company's focus currently appears to be on resolving other game-related issues, such as bug fixes and addressing wrongful account bans.