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 use of character mods, including those depicting controversial figures.

Marvel Rivals, a recently released hero shooter, has quickly gained millions of players. Players are customizing their gameplay experience through mods, altering character models with skins from various Marvel sources and even incorporating models from other games like Fortnite.

A Nexus Mods user created and uploaded a mod replacing Captain America's model with Donald Trump. This mod gained attention on social media, with some users even seeking out a corresponding Joe Biden mod for matches. However, both the Trump and Biden mods are now inaccessible on Nexus Mods, indicating removal by the platform.

Reasons for Removal:

Nexus Mods' 2020 blog post established a policy against mods related to US sociopolitical issues. This policy, implemented around the time of the 2020 presidential election, aims to maintain a neutral platform and avoid potentially divisive content.

Social media reactions to the ban were mixed. Some players found the ban unsurprising, citing the incongruity of Trump's image with Captain America's established character. Others expressed dissatisfaction with Nexus Mods' policy on political imagery. It's worth noting that while many Trump mods have likely been removed from Nexus Mods, some still exist for other games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and XCOM 2.

NetEase Games, the game developer, has not publicly addressed the issue of character mods or the removal of the Trump mod. The company is currently focused on addressing other game-related issues such as bug fixes and resolving incorrect account bans.