Starfield Paid DLSS Mod Creator Hits Back at Pirates, Threatens to Add 'Hidden Mines' in Future Mods

Starfield is out now on Xbox Series consoles and PC, but the latest Bethesda RPG is missing a key graphics option that PC users are clamoring for. Nvidia DLSS, which stands for Deep Learning Super Sampling, is upscaling technology that's been a highly-requested feature for Starfield, and it was missing at launch.

While Bethesda has already revealed that DLSS support on PC is coming to Starfield sometime down the line, players who want to benefit from the better visuals now are turning to fan-made Starfield DLSS mods — and that's where some controversy lies.

Modder PureDark specializes in creating DLSS3 and DLSS2 mods, and he restricted access to his more advanced Starfield DLSS3 mod behind a $5-per-month Patreon subscription. The mod uses Digital Rights Management (DRM) to authenticate users. PureDark's less advanced DLSS2 mod is free on NexusMods.

While PureDark has been creating DLSS mods and putting them on his Patreon for years, the high-profile status of Starfield and the related mod are reigniting the controversy surrounding paid mods. Some folks believe that modders deserve to be paid for their work like a game developer, while others believe that the community-oriented nature of the modding scene means mods should be free to everyone, no matter what. In a poll we ran on our initial article about this paid mod, 68% of respondents selected that mods should always be free.

PureDark added Digital Rights Management (DRM) authentication to the mod, and the mod has already been cracked by members of the modding community. In an interview with IGN, PureDark defended the decision to put his advanced DLSS mods on Patreon, and he planted his flag in the debate over paid mods.

"It's funny that people think this is new, I've been providing it as a service for more than 10 months, way before Starfield," PureDark said. "I've been making my subscription an Xbox Game Pass-like service that anyone subscribed [to] at any time can have access to all my mods previously made without having to pay for each, and they work after the subscription expires... I've been making new mods and keeping mods updated for months for my subscribers, is $5 too much for such a service?"

I've been making new mods and keeping mods updated for months for my subscribers, is $5 too much for such a service?

It's true — the mod does not require an active Patreon subscription, so people can still pass the DRM authentication after unsubscribing. PureDark also responded to how quickly the Starfield mod was cracked.

"It was expected since it was something I put together within a day or two, but I did get enough patrons so it's done its job. So from now on I will place hidden mines in all my mods to make it harder for these people. They might be able to find and bypass some of them, but they will never know if they have found all of them. The cracked mods will sometimes work, sometimes fail, sometimes work but [be] very wonky, sometimes even crash and they won't even know if it's a bug or just them using the cracked version, and they will never have the support I've been always providing to my subscribers."

The paid mod got a lot of backlash on social media, with one post on X (formerly Twitter) gaining a lot of traction, reading: "STARFIELD DLSS 3 FG Mod by PureDark Has Been CRACKED Already. Paid mods get what deserved for having DRM implemented."

STARFIELD DLSS 3 FG Mod by PureDark Has Been CRACKED Already

Paid mods get what deserved for having DRM implemented 🖕 pic.twitter.com/ex8tfUgIFa

— PC_Focus 🔴 (@PC_Focus_) September 3, 2023

Another X user wrote that "adding DRM to a paid mod is all kinds of messed up." But PureDark isn't too concerned with the backlash to his paid mod, as he says once the Starfield mod is in a stable state, he'll move on to whatever game he wants to work on next.

"Most of my subscribers [are] happy with what they get for only $5 and consider it a good deal. People are against the idea of an honest man making a living with his programming skill? I found no shame in that."

For people that do have a problem with paying for mods, there is already an alternative out there. Shortly after PureDark's mod sparked the conversation in the Starfield community, a different option on NexusMods cropped up from modder LukeFZ. Titled Starfield Frame Generation - Replacing FSR2 with DLSS-G, the mod makes similar visual upgrades as PureDark's mod. IGN asked LukeFZ if this free mod was in response to the paid mod, but the creator said that's not the case.

"My motivation for making the mod was mainly based on it being an experience to try out something new," LukeFZ said in a statement to IGN. "I read about all the commotion about mods implementing DLSS and DLSS Frame Generation in games that did not support it initially, and I found the concept very intriguing. I had never written any 'real' big mods before — normally I develop tools and other things designed to help modders, among other projects — and I saw it as a learning experience of both writing an interesting mod for a game and learning a bit about graphics programming."

No matter where you stand on the paid mod debate, we do know official DLSS support for Starfield is coming sometime in the future. For more on Starfield, check out how one modder just made it way easier to explore New Atlantis. Or, if you're making your own way through the stars, check out our full Starfield guide.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.