Nexus Mods, the largest and most popular video game modding platform, has announced it has acquired the third-party Steam database and player count service SteamDB for an undisclosed sum. While Nexus Mods promises that the site will be “keeping its own name, brand, community, and identity,” SteamDB will ultimately be continuing without its “one-man” owner, xPaw, who blamed “the rise of AI” and “experiencing burnout” for his decision to part ways with the project.
As announced in statements on both Nexus Mods and SteamDB, the transfer of ownership appears to have already gone into effect. However, Nexus Mods noted that SteamDB’s owner xPaw “will continue to work with [Nexus Mods] over the coming months as well to make sure it’s a smooth transition.”
As for why xPaw decided to sell SteamDB, he revealed in a rather candid statement that “the mental load” of running the site by himself had “only kept increasing,” and that he’d been “looking for a worthy partner that could continue the legacy that [he] had built.”
“After COVID and with the rise of AI, the internet we once loved is gone, and with it my passion,” stated xPaw. “I have started experiencing burnout with the project, but I powered through. A few years ago I tried to find someone to continue the project, but I couldn’t find a team that I was confident in, so I decided to keep going by myself[…]This is where Nexus Mods comes in.”
As for why Nexus Mods decided to purchase SteamDB, owner Victor “Foledinho” Folmann, who replaced the previous owner, Robin “Dark0ne” Scott, in June 2025, noted in his statement that SteamDB’s “massive back-catalogue” of “manifests and data for the old versions” of games will prove to be a valuable resource for the site’s modding community.
“As you all know, mods are often built around a particular version of a game, so when there’s an update for it, your game that was perfectly modded and working the day before now just…doesn’t,” explained Folmann. “SteamDB already tracks an incredible amount of information about game builds, depots, manifests, files, and update history across Steam, including years of historical data. Being able to connect that information with modding tools and mod metadata opens up some really interesting possibilities for making modding more reliable.”
“As I mentioned before, and as xPaw has said in his own announcement, what mattered to him was finding a team that understood the responsibility of looking after something the community depends on, and shared his belief in building better and useful tools for gamers,” continued Folmann’s statement. “We’re incredibly proud, and overwhelmingly grateful, that he chose us to take SteamDB forward, and now we need to show that trust was well placed.”
