‘This is a gift’: Baldur’s Village mod maker says thanks to all (especially Swen) and promises more content including an ‘Astarion’s Ten Hearts event’ is on the way

It’s been quite a ride for Baldur’s Village, the big Stardew Valley mod that brings Baldur’s Gate 3 characters and content to the world’s most popular life sim. It launched in early March and everyone loved it including Larian boss Swen Vincke, but then whoops, Wizards of the Coast clobbered it with a DMCA takedown request. Everyone got mad, Swen wagged his finger, and then WotC said whoops, it was a mistake! And now it’s back.

With all that water now under the bridge, mod developer XunHe1145 has shared a “full explanation” of what happened on X. It’s not really a full explanation to my reading, in the sense that it doesn’t explain how all of this was allowed to happen in the first place (and we will probably never know), but the important thing is confirmation that the matter is now “thoroughly clarified and resolved,” and more Baldur’s Village stuff, including an Astarion event, is on the way.

“On the very day we received the takedown notice, we had just finalized Astarion’s Ten-heart event, which was scheduled for the next update,” XunHe1145 wrote. “At the time, we were disheartened as we thought that this content might never reach the community. Fortunately, we are able to move forward.

“In the near future, we will be releasing a minor update that includes bug fixes and Astarion’s Ten Hearts event. Other planned content updates will also resume as scheduled.”

There is also, naturally, gratitude to everyone for helping to get things sorted: “We sincerely appreciate the understanding and support from @larianstudios, the patience and assistance from the @NexusSitesteam throughout the process, and the thoughtful judgment and professional handling by Wizards of the Coast. We recognize that protecting intellectual property is a complex and serious responsibility, and we are truly grateful that our intentions—as both fans and creators—have been understood.”

XunHe1145 also thanked Swen specifically for his support of the Baldur’s Village mod:

It is indeed a happy ending, which is very nice (especially since we so rarely get them) but as heartening as it is to see everyone throwing their support behind Baldur’s Village, I can’t help thinking how unnecessary it all was. Mistakes happen, yes, and credit to Wizards of the Coast for walking it back, but the apparent ease with which DMCA notices can be fired off willy-nilly remains a problem—and there’s no avoiding the question of whether the ending would’ve been so happy without the gentle influence of Vincke. Baldur’s Village is fixed, but the system itself remains heavy-handed and sometimes capricious.

Anyway, back to the mod and what you’re really curious about: Sorry, but there’s no more information about the Astarion’s Ten Hearts event at this point. We’ll hopefully be hearing more about it soon.

“We are profoundly grateful for all of your patience, support, and trust during this time,” XunHe1145 wrote. “Our team remains committed to refining the project content with each update. This is a gift, you know. Thank you all. We won’t forget it.”