Chosen, the corporate that acquired Nexus Mods in June 2025, has introduced that will probably be taking cost of SteamDB in a take care of the monitoring web site’s Co-founder and long-time Developer, Pavel ‘xPaw’ Djundik. The positioning started life in 2013, and has grown into one of many dominant instruments utilized by PC players to maintain tabs on every little thing from new releases and participant counts to patches, backend modifications, and the bottom sale costs. Now, it is getting into new possession, though each events promise to maintain SteamDB “the identical web site with all its options and information.”
“When Marlamin and I made a decision to begin this venture again in 2013, we had been pushed by pure curiosity and a want to assist make useful public providers for the group,” SteamDB’s creator says in a weblog submit discussing the deal. Djundik has continued to run the positioning following his accomplice’s departure, however now admits, “I’ve at all times thought of SteamDB to be my passion, however the hours I’ve labored on it may very well be thought of a full-time job. It was pure ardour, and the ever-increasing self-inflicted workload has taken its toll.”
Steam continues to develop by the day, in each recreation and participant counts, and ultimately it reached an unsustainable stage. “After COVID and with the rise of AI, the web we as soon as cherished is gone, and with it my ardour,” Djundik provides, noting that he “powered via” burnout for some time. “I would not be capable of dwell with myself by both simply letting the positioning run as-is and letting it wither, or utterly shutting it down.” He is due to this fact been in search of a accomplice since January, and has now settled on Nexus Mods.
The Nexus Mods crew notes that “there are numerous similarities” between the 2 websites, each of which “began as ardour tasks” and ultimately “grew far past something their authentic creators anticipated.” Djundik says, “The objective is to not change what makes the venture particular, however to present it the sources, improvement capability, and long-term stability that I might not present alone. I’ve full confidence the crew will be capable of proceed bettering the venture for players, builders, and publishers alike. I shall be serving to the crew guarantee a clean transition within the coming months.”
Whereas it guarantees to maintain SteamDB free, and keep away from conventional show adverts and programmatic promoting, Chosen says, “We will be straight about this relatively than dance round it: sure, SteamDB must earn money.” It guarantees to take the time to discover “lighter-touch methods to make the web site sustainable,” which it says “could embody use of partnerships, integrations, and affiliate hyperlinks with publishers whenever you purchase a recreation after visiting SteamDB.”
Chosen reiterates that there shall be “no paywall on something that exists right this moment, no promoting your private information, no login partitions, no degrading the positioning to squeeze worth out of it.” It notes that whereas this is likely to be an extended course of than pursuing conventional adverts, “We’re blissful to take that hit within the curiosity of doing issues proper.” When you’ve got extra questions on what this implies for the way forward for SteamDB or Nexus Mods, the 2 events have put collectively an intensive FAQ addressing different probably considerations.
There’s additionally hope that this partnership might show useful to modding in the long run. Recreation updates are usually “probably the most widespread methods a modded recreation can all of a sudden cease working.” To assist counteract this, the Nexus Mods crew is planning “to discover how a mod supervisor might higher perceive which model of the sport you are operating, whether or not mods you are putting in had been constructed for it, and whether or not an incoming recreation replace is prone to trigger points.”
Chosen makes clear, nonetheless, that “there’s numerous work between taking on the reins of SteamDB and attending to that time, so we do not wish to get forward of ourselves or promise options earlier than they exist.” It additionally states it isn’t planning to show SteamDB right into a modding web site: “In case you’ve by no means put in a mod in your life and you utilize SteamDB for participant counts, pricing historical past, replace data, or since you’ve seen a random previous recreation all of a sudden has hundreds of individuals taking part in it and also you wish to know why, that is what it’s going to nonetheless be for.”
The Nexus Mods crew acknowledges, “We’re very conscious that us taking on SteamDB would not mechanically give us the belief its group has positioned in it.” Djundik has clearly spent numerous time selecting who at hand the reins to, nonetheless. He states, “What mattered most to me was discovering a crew that understands what it means to be accountable for one thing the group relies on, and that shares my perception in constructing helpful instruments for players.”
