The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimwas released in November 2011, yet 14 years later, at the time of writing, there are still over a thousand people playing it on a daily basis. Most single-player games are released, played, and abandoned fairly quickly, which makesSkyrima special case. What makesSkyrimso successful that it’s still pulling players this many years later? The secret is mods.
The modding community ofSkyrimcontinually creates new content for the game, keeping it fresh and providing fans with a reason to return to the game again and again. AndSkyrimisn’t the only game that’s being kept alive and well in 2025. Several large titles are still seeing relatively high player counts, despite being five or more years old, allthanks to their robust library of mods that’s still growing even today.
10The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (2006)
It Was Still Being Played Before It Was Remastered
On July 30, 2025, Bethesda surprised everyone by bothannouncing and releasingThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasteredon the same day. The remaster had beenrumored to be in the worksfor a while, but when the game finally arrived, it still caused a huge splash in the fandom.The remaster faithfully recreates the classicElder Scrollsgamewith improved visuals, quality-of-life upgrades, and careful attention to detail.
But the originalOblivion, which came out in 2006, wasn’t completely abandoned. In fact, the nearly decade-old game saw an uptick in users when the remaster came out, according toSteamDB, in part thanks to the game’s mods.The most popular mods improve the game’s textures and resolve bugs,but there are still mods being created to this day that fix balancing issues, add new voice acting, change the HUD, and much more.
9Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord (2020)
Fans Turn This Game Into The Gem It Could Have Been
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlordmight not be the first game that comes to mind when you think of old games with a huge player base, but the title still has over 25,000 concurrent players per day, five years after it was first released (according toSteamDB). The game is known for being quite clunky and buggy, but despite this,the historic action RPG has been a huge success, winning fans over with its heart and charm even if it lacked polish.
Thankfully, modders were up for the challenge and quickly took to fixing the game’s numerous issues. Mods for this game are varied, but the most common and popular simply consist of overall improvements like visual glitch fixes and NPC behavior updates. There are nownearly 6000 mods for this gameonNexus Modsalone, some of which are considered must-haves for anyone who wants to play and enjoy the game.
8Fallout 4 (2015)
Still Getting New Locations and Weapons
Bethesda has long moved on toworking on the unannouncedFallout 5,so fans of the previous title won’t be seeing any new content for the fourth game in the post-apocalyptic action RPG. At least, they shouldn’t expect any official content, butthe community is still creating awesome content built on top of the base game, giving the game replay value long after its release.
Whereas other games' mods tend to focus on fixing bugs and adding cosmetics, theFallout 4mods go all out and create entire new content packs for the 10-year-old title.The most famous of these islast year’sFallout: London, which took the series across the pond to England.
Mods have brought the game’s protagonist everywhere from Miami to 20 leagues under the sea
Other mods have brought the game’s protagonist everywhere from Miami to 20 leagues under the sea, andadded points of interest and new questslike building interiors and Lovecraftian horrors. So, once you’re finished with one playthrough, you can pick up a mod and continue your adventure in a new place.
Most Popular Mods Add New Features And Content
Red Dead Redemption 2is one of the most important RPGs released in the last 10 years.The game revolutionized the open-world RPG genreand influenced many titles that followed in its stirruped footsteps. Many fans holdRDR2dear in their hearts as their favorite game, and it’s natural to want your favorite game not to come to an end.
Luckily, it doesn’t have to, thanks to the thousands of mods available for fans to download.Mods for this game add to its immersion,improving and adding different guns, reworking physics and textures, and more.Red Dead Redemption 2mods created in 2025 are still accumulating hundreds of downloads, even when they add small features like being able to pet cats or spit to insult NPCS (yes, both of those are real).
6The Sims 4 (2014)
Creator Content Keeps Things Fresh For Free
In September 2024, EA announced that it wouldn’t bedeveloping and releasingThe Sims 5,opting instead to continue evolving the current generation of the game. This has allowed the company tofocus on improving and expandingThe Sims 4,adding new content and updates, and expanding the base game in fun new ways. The2025 roadmap forThe Sims 4, released in June, promises a whole lot of new content, free updates, and much more.
The support and continuing updates from the game’s developer and publisher haven’t stopped fan creators from adding much more to their beloved game.The Sims 4is one of the most heavily modded games, withover 14,000 downloads availableon the popularSimscommunity content site,Mod The Sims. If players are bored with the base game or don’t have the cash to spend on the official paid DLCs, they can find anything they’re looking for among the mods, from characters and assets to new content and quests.
5Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)
Cosmetic Upgrades Keep The Game Fresh
WhenCyberpunk 2077was released in 2020, the CD Projekt Red game was plagued with bugs and issues.The game’s troubled launch is notoriousand remains a cautionary tale for other developers to this day. The title did eventually resolve most of its issues and won many fans over despite the rough start,regularly hitting over 58,000 monthly players, according toSteamDB.
The sci-fi title still receives frequent updates from fans, with over 15,500 mods uploaded toNexus Mods, with 100 added in just the last week. Currentmods allow players to customize the game’s characters to their liking, adding costumes, haircuts, and other cosmetic goodies that encourage fans to keep coming back to the game. The most popular mods continue this trend, also implementing quality-of-life updates like an improved inventory system and more responsive NPCs.
4Stardew Valley (2016)
Fans Help Give ConcernedApe A Break
Considering the other titles in this list are mostly RPGs,Stardew Valleymay seem like an outlier here. Butthe cozy farming game has a dedicated modding communitythat’s doing a lot to keep the game fresh for fans—many of whom have already put in hundreds of hours into the title. The game’s solo developer, ConcernedApe, is also still updating the game after nine years, but has recently taken a step back from the game to work on his newest project.
Fansencourage the creator to take a break, and in the meantime, the modders will continue the work of updating the title.Some of the most popularStardew Valleymodsadd new items for decorating your home, characters to befriend and romance, and locations to explore,giving long-time fans another reason to keep coming back to this wholesome game.
3The Witcher 3 (2015)
New Weapons Add Visual Upgrades
The adventures of the legendary Witcher will continue in therecently announcedThe Witcher 4,but until then,fans can continue to enjoy the previous title with a little help from its many mods.Several content packs add new quests and build on the lore and characters already present in the game.
Many others, though, are simply focused on improving the way the game looks and plays. These fan-created upgradesenhance the quality, renderings, textures, and even color gradingof the original game. Players who enjoyed the journey ofThe Witcher 3can relive it in higher definition thanks to the modding community.
2Pokémon Red & Blue (1996)
Complete Reimaginings Of The Original Pokémon Games
Pokémonmods are generally called Hacksinstead of mods, but the idea is the same: to build on the foundation of an existing game to create a new way to enjoy it. Hacks exist for many of the olderPokémon game generations,and do everything frommaking visual tweaks to turning the title into a completely different game.
Pokémonhacks do require the download of ROMS, so they’re not for everyone. Those who do take on thesefan-made reimaginings of the popular old titleswill be treated to stories that take the franchise to new locations, re-tellings from Team Rocket’s point of view, massive rosters of new Pokémon to discover, and much more. Those who don’t feel comfortable downloading ROMS can watch popular YouTubers likePointCrowplay through the creative newPokémongames, instead.
1Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017)
Mods Fill The Gap Of A Third Game
The classic space RPGStar Wars: Battlefront 2has seen a resurgence of interest in recent months, andfans have been begging EA and DICEto continue the series with a third game. Since the companies have had no response to these requests, the modding community has taken it upon itself tofill the gap and add a large amount of new content to the base gamein lieu of an official sequel.
Battlefront 2modsrival those ofThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimin number and scope. Some mods add dozens of new characters (both canon and fan-made), while others introduce new mechanics, skills, and special features. Even without official new content, modders are keeping the game going strong many years after it was released.
