History of Nexus Mods in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: April 23, 2025

Nexus Mods is a prominent website and online community dedicated to hosting and distributing modifications (mods) for various computer games. With over 30 million registered members as of October 2024, the platform supports over 3100 games, offering a vast library of user-created content. The site also provides a forum and wiki, fostering discussion and providing resources related to modding and the platform itself. It stands as one of the largest and most comprehensive resources for game modding on the internet.

August 2001: Morrowind Chronicles Founded

In August 2001, Robin Scott and a friend established Morrowind Chronicles as a fan site dedicated to the Bethesda Softworks game, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

2001: Nexus Mods Founding

In 2001, Nexus Mods began as Morrowind Chronicles, a fan site for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, before evolving into Morrowind Source.

2007: Scott Breaks Away to Found TESNexus

In 2007, Robin Scott decided to leave TESSource, where revenue was split, and founded his own website called TESNexus, utilizing the existing TESSource website for his new venture.

2013: Commitment to Independence

In 2013, Robin Scott stated that the Nexus sites would remain free of corporate investment and direct ads, relying instead on revenue from premium memberships.

December 2015: Possible Security Breach

In December 2015, Nexus Mods reported a potential security breach affecting account names and advised its members to change their passwords.

June 2016: Mod Theft and Permissions System Update

In June 2016, widespread theft of Nexus Mods content led Nexus owner Robin Scott to criticize Bethesda's lack of response. Nexus Mods then added an extra permissions system to enhance mod usage and distribution control, especially for console modding.

2016: Forbes Praises Skyrim Mod

In 2016, Forbes featured and praised the "Alternate Start - Live Another Life" mod hosted on Nexus Mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition.

2016: Website Redesign

In 2016, Nexus Mods underwent a major redesign, incorporating a responsive viewport for mobile browsing, an intuitive navigation bar, and profile pinning capabilities.

January 2017: Fallout 4 Mods Coverage

In January 2017, the Daily Express covered a Fallout 4 mod on Nexus Mods, with additional Fallout 4 mods also being reported on by WWG, Paste Magazine, the Christian Times, and PC Gamer.

2017: Expansion to 200 Games

By early 2017, Scott's new website, TESNexus, supported over 200 additional games after his split from TESSource in 2007.

April 2021: Membership Milestone

As of April 2021, Nexus Mods reported having 26 million members and was ranked #1090 on the Alexa Rankings, with over 4.5 billion downloads since its launch, making it the largest gaming modification site on the internet.

June 2021: Policy Change Announcement

In June 2021, Nexus Mods announced a new policy of retaining archival copies of mods for a Collections feature, regardless of author requests for deletion. This sparked controversy and led to a grace period for authors to either accept the change or remove their mods.

May 2022: Nexus Mod Manager Update

As of May 2022, the Nexus Mod Manager (NMM), a Windows-only open-source program, automates mod download and installation for over 30 games, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 3.

August 2022: Controversial Flag Mod

In August 2022, a user uploaded a controversial texture mod for the Windows release of Marvel's Spider-Man replacing the rainbow flag with the US flag, which was quickly removed by Nexus Mods moderators due to violating inclusivity and diversity standards.