Nexus Mods Acquires SteamDB, Service Stays Free
Nexus Mods, the major PC game mod distribution site, announced on September 2 that it has taken over operation of SteamDB, the unofficial Steam database. SteamDB co-founder xPaw confirmed the move, saying he had been seeking a partner to take over the project for years. SteamDB began in 2013 as a hobby project by xPaw and Marlamin, who later left, leaving xPaw to run the site almost alone. He described the workload as equivalent to a full-time job and said his passion faded through the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of AI, leaving him close to burnout. He chose Nexus Mods because he judged it shared SteamDB's identity and community values. Nexus Mods stated that SteamDB will remain an independent service, keeping its name, brand, and community, and that all currently free features will stay free, with no ads planned and no Nexus Mods account required. The company plans to invest in SteamDB's infrastructure, security, and scalability, and to use SteamDB's historical data on game builds and updates to improve mod compatibility checks, though those features are still at the concept stage. xPaw will support the transition over the coming months.