In a statement issued to Eurogamer, CD Projekt Red said that they broadly permit modders to “tweak the game at will and have fun” when it comes to the characters the studio has created for the game, but for the characters based on real people, the studio is taking a different stance. “When it comes to models of real people whom we’ve asked to participate in the game, we kindly ask you to refrain from using them in any situation that might be found offensive if you don’t have their explicit permission.”
Permission will have to be sought from the likeness (and other “concerned parties”) before modders and players create or use these explicit mods, or else they will be taken down.
CD Projekt Red clarified further, telling Eurogamer “our most important rule regarding user-generated content, game mods, in particular, is that it can’t be harmful towards others. In the case of model swaps, especially those that involve explicit situations, it can be perceived as such by the people who lent us their appearance for the purpose of creating characters in Cyberpunk 2077.”
The model swap mod is no longer available and, clearly, any future iterations of such mods will be promptly removed by the studio. Just yesterday, CD Projekt Red began releasing official modding tools for the community to tinker with.
In other Cyberpunk news, the game today received a hotfix to tackle a new game-breaking bug, and the game reportedly saw the biggest digital game launch of all time, despite huge controversy around its release.
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.