Larian saves adorable Stardew mod Baldur’s Village after Wizards’ annoying takedown 

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios came to the rescue of adorable Stardew Valley mod Baldur’s Village. After releasing to huge acclaim across both fanbases last month, the cute fan-made expansion was taken down by Baldur’s Gate IP holder Wizards of the Coast. 

Struck down by an unexpected DMCA notice, Baldur’s Village was placed “under moderation” on hosting website Nexus Mods. At the time of the takedown, even the modding site hoped that Wizards of the Coast would “revert their decision”, which they gracefully have. 

Larian helps save Baldur’s Village 

Immediately after the DMCA hit the Stardew Valley mod, fans and Larian Studios creatives spoke up against the takedown. Sprinting over to Twitter, Larian boss Swen Vincke added their vocal support to the mod, saying:

“Free quality fan mods highlighting your characters in other game genres are proof your work resonates and a unique form of word of mouth. 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.”

Thankfully, it only took a few hours for Wizards of the Coast to rescind its takedown notice following the outcry of support for Baldur’s Village. 

Free quality fan mods highlighting your characters in other game genres are proof your work resonates and a unique form of word of mouth. Imho they shouldn't be treated like commercial ventures that infringe on your property. https://t.co/FHeFGELMAY

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) March 31, 2025

In a statement provided to IGN, Wizards of the Coast explained the takedown notice was an accident. With so many major companies using third-party services to protect their IP, it’s a likely scenario. 

“The Baldur’s Village DMCA takedown was issued mistakenly – we are sorry about that,” Wizards of the Coast said. “We are in the process of fixing that now so fans and the Stardew community can continue to enjoy this great mod!”

Baldur’s Village is already an amazing Stardew Valley mod, but it’s also far from done. Prior to the mod’s DMCA takedown notice, the team behind the project already revealed plans to massively expand the experience in future updates. At the time of writing, Halsin’s storyline is in the works as well as new gameplay features. 

As for Larian, while the studio is “closing the book” on Baldur’s Gate 3 with the release of Patch 8, the game is very much still important to the studio. While Hasbro teases huge things for the series without Larian’s help, the heart of BG3 still rests with the studio.