What was intended to be a neat fan mod that would unite the larger Super Smash Bros. community with that of breakout indie hit Balatro turned into a case of harassment and death threats for its creator, all over a paywall for their work, something other creators in the space have done before.
The end result is a rather tumultuous 48-plus hours for its creator, and larger questions about the behavior of communities and whether mods should cost real-life money.
Just two days ago, on August 21, creator Mooshies took to social media to show off Balatro's Jimbo in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The mod replaced Game & Watch with the character, offering new sounds and effects, among other additions.
The creation, which took off in popularity on social media, was locked behind a Patreon, with Mooshies offering an explanation as to why that was the case.
This mod took me a month to create. I don’t think I’m wrong for wanting some compensation for something I spent a considerable amount of time on.
As much as I wish that I could spend a bunch of time on creating something and releasing it for free, unfortunately, that’s not realistic...
