Wizards of the Coast has issued a DMCA takedown notice on a fan mod of Stardew Valley that adds Baldur's Gate 3 characters, despite the mod previously having been publicly praised by Larian Studios CEO Sven Winke. And now, Winke has responded to the takedown as well.
As reported by PC Gamer, the mod in question is entitled "Baldur's Village" and incorporates Baldur's Gate 3 characters into Stardew Valley. The mod released earlier this month, and shortly after, Winke took to Twitter to praise it, saying "So much love went into this – amazing work!"
Unfortunately, just weeks later, the mod is gone. According to a Nexus Mods spokesperson speaking t PC Gamer, Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur's Gate IP holder Wizards of the Coast has issued a DMCA takedown of the mod. "Hopefully, this is an oversight from WotC, who often use external agencies to hunt down violating content, and they will revert their decision," said the spokesperson. "Fingers crossed for Baldur's Village."
Then, just today, Winke commented on the situation again on Twitter, once again expressing support for the mod while acknowledging that IP protection is tricky:
Protecting your IP can be tricky but I do hope this gets settled. There are good ways of dealing with this.
— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) March 31, 2025
"Free quality fan mods highlighting your characters in other game genres are proof your work resonates and a unique form of word of mouth," he said. "Imho they shouldn't be treated like commercial ventures that infringe on your property. Protecting your IP can be tricky but I do hope this gets settled. There are good ways of dealing with this."
It's possible this is part of a larger crackdown from Wizards of the Coast around Baldur's Gate. As we learned at the Game Developers Conference earlier this month, we're supposedly going to hear more about what the company has planned for the IP "in pretty short order", so maybe this free Stardew Valley mod was somehow in conflict with that. Or maybe it was a mistake that will quickly be rectified. We've reached out to Wizards of the Coast for comment.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
