Early in the development of Minecraft, Mojang decided to embrace the already-devoted modding scene, and the result was a video game revolution so strong that entire courses have been set up to teach people coding through mods.

It was a crossroads that has proven somewhat influential, with most game companies (with the notable exception of Nintendo) either embracing the boundless creativity and technical skill of modding scenes or at least not standing in their way.

Some games, however, have not only been improved by mods but effectively rescued; on their own, they were games that were lacking in certain key areas, but with mods they were revolutionised, rescuing the legacy of the original game in the process.

Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines

You can make the argument that without The Unofficial Mod, the immersive action RPG based on the extremely popular blood-tinged tabletop books would not only have not received a long-awaited sequel but might have simply faded from memory entirely.

Bloodlines launched as a game as cursed as the various vampires that make up the Camarilla, having faced development hell, using the then-unfinished Source engine and bankrupting the company before it even launched.

However, its uniqueness made it a flawed diamond and modders worked tirelessly to put cut content back into the game, saving its legacy and letting a huge number of people enjoy the World of Darkness.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II

The most literal example of a game saved by mods, to the point that the cancellation of an official port of this mod to the Nintendo Switch led to a class action lawsuit.

KOTOR II was infamously rushed to release with significant technical issues and at least one missing planet, but the dedication of The Sith Lords Restored Content Modification development team helped the original game be reappraised as a classic of the genre.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

This could be replaced by any Bethesda game, but Skyrim’s enduring popularity is almost entirely owed to its modding scene, to the point that its Anniversary Version includes a huge amount of modded content in tribute to its decade of popularity.

It is a similar story with Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4, the latter seeing a revival in interest thanks to the Fallout London mod.