"They will delete statistics that investors don't like, just like they do with mods": Nexus Mods acquired SteamDB

The popular service will reportedly continue to operate independently, but players don't believe it.

Nexus Mods announced the acquisition of SteamDB – one of the most popular third-party services for tracking information about Steam. The deal was officially confirmed by both parties on September 2, 2026.

However, SteamDB will not disappear or become part of the Nexus Mods website. The service will continue to operate under its own name, brand, and previous address. Users will also not need to create a Nexus Mods account to access information on SteamDB.

SteamDB co-founder Pavel Djundik, better known by his nickname xPaw, explained the deal by the need to find a partner for the further development of the project. According to him, over the years, SteamDB has evolved from a hobby into a full-time job, and the constant expansion of Steam's catalog and functionality led to burnout and became too much of a burden.

After the acquisition, the service will continue to operate separately from Nexus Mods. All existing data and core features of SteamDB will remain free, and the browser extension will continue to be supported. The SteamDB and Nexus Mods communities will also not merge for now.

Nexus Mods believes that the information SteamDB collects about Steam builds, depots, manifests, files, and update history can be particularly useful for modding.

The problem is that updating a game often breaks modifications created for the previous version. However, SteamDB stores historical data about different game versions, which potentially allows for more accurate determination of mod compatibility.

Commentators online are unhappy with the deal. It is assumed that over time, Nexus Mods will increasingly tighten its control over SteamDB and even begin to delete game statistics to appease investors and publishers. Nexus Mods itself regularly removes modifications that allegedly violate certain platform rules.