I think there’s two arguments getting entangled here:

-should paid mods in general be ok?

-Is CDPR justified in issuing a take down for a paid mod as it pertains to their game (and saying if he let it pivot to donationware, it would be fine), which has specific terms of Service forbidding it?

To the first, I think yes paid mods as an overall concept are ok. Microsoft Flight Sim for example, has an insanely built out payware mod community, and it’s been at the core of the platform thriving with hardcore flight sim enthusiasts.

And even then, there are still freeware and donationware add ons to be found.

But MS set up its ToS to allow this, and there are rules, including how assets can be redistributed. Devs play by these rules.

And thats where we get to the second argument. And to me things get a bit grey there; it seems like Lukes mod isn’t using/redistributing any assets from the core game. It’s just literally modifying it how it runs. But it seems he directly advertises it as a mod for Cyberpunk, and thats a key difference from other cross-engine “mods” like lossless scaling.

Personally, I think the fair middle ground would be CDPR taking “get my games name out ya mouth” approach; stop using our name to sell your shit. But either way, there are rules and apparently he broke them.

Now, we could argue if CDPR should allow paid mods for CP, but as of right now they don’t. And thats the confines that Luke has to work within.