Mount & Blade: Warband Mod Removed From Steam

South Korea’s ratings agency GRAC has requested that Valve remove a mod for Mount & Blade: Warband from the Steam Workshop. Valve has blocked the mod from being available globally, citing “distorted historical facts.” The move is a notable departure from Steam’s generally liberal approach to moderation.

Mod for Mount & Blade: Warband Draws Backlash

The mod is called Gwangju Running Man and uses the game engine from TaleWorlds Entertainment’s Mount & Blade: Warband to depict the Gwangju Uprising in South Korea in 1980. However, the mod portrays the uprising as armed and violent, contrary to historical facts. GRAC said that such a presentation is misleading to the public and distorts historical events.

The mod, which was initially banned in South Korea, was completely removed from the Steam Workshop after GRAC contacted Valve. This development stood out as one of the rare actions taken by Valve, which usually does not interfere with user content. Valve stated in a statement on the subject that it recognizes that the Gwangju Uprising was an important event for the Korean people.

The fact that the cover of the mod featured Chun Doo-hwan, the military leader of the period, clearly revealed the political orientation of the content. While press reports suggested that a Chinese user could be behind the mod, some commentators argued that this could have been done intentionally by far-right groups in South Korea to hide it. The fact that most of the comments about the mod were in simplified Chinese increased these suspicions.

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