Nintendo forces Garry's Mod creator to go through and delete 20 years of Steam Workshop mods

When it comes to physics-driven sandbox games with community mods and creations, PC classic Garry's Mod is up there as an all-timer. It's been a Steam staple for decades, with the game's history tied to the release of Valve's own iconic Half-Life 2 from 2004.

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Garry's Mod, image credit: Facepunch Studios/Valve.

And now, in a very strange and out-of-nowhere move, Garry's Mod creator Garry Newman and Facepunch Studios have confirmed that they have received DCMA copyright takedown requests from none other than Nintendo. At first, many believed this was a hoax orchestrated by a copyright troll, but Garry Newman has taken to X to confirm that the takedown requests are "legit" and have been "verified by Nintendo."

What does this mean? Any mod or creation for Garry's Mod, including Nintendo content, characters, or IP, must be removed. And when you're talking about decades and thousands of uploads, it's "an ongoing process" with "20 years of uploads to go through."

"This is Nintendo's content and what they allow and don't allow is up to them," the community post on Steam says. "They don't want you playing with that stuff in Garry's Mod - that's their decision, we have to respect that and take down as much as we can."

Facepunch Studios is also asking the community to help out by deleting any Nintendo-related uploads, as "that would help us a lot." Nintendo is super-protective of its IP, so having the Japanese gaming giant target a community-driven game like Garry's Mod is not unusual. Uploads using Nintendo assets are asking for a DCMA takedown. However, to do so in 2024, after two decades of the game being a popular Steam staple, is strange.

It's unknown if Nintendo knew about Garry's Mod for years or recently discovered that its vibrant community and decades-worth of uploads and assets feature a lot of Nintendo-related IP.

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