A few days ago, files that contained mods for the new Dying Light game were taken down from the places they were being shared thanks to some DMCA takedown notices that were served against them. Now the Entertainment Software Association has apologised for issuing them, saying that it was a mistake and that the requests were issued in error by a third-party vendor on behalf of the organisation.

Saturday was when the hosts of the mod files discovered that the modification files they had uploaded onto MediaFire had been taken down for violating the sharing site’s Terms of Service. The notices identified the ESA as the ones issuing the notices, and referred to “copyright infringment” also linking readers to an antipiracy website. All this despite the fact that the mods were nothing more than some visual alterations, so obviously there was some anger towards this action.

Around the same time the developer of the game Techland had released a patch that seemed to be designed to block the making of mods (a reference to how ‘cheating’ in the Be the Zombie PvP game mode by altering the game’s data files was now blocked), and now alterations to things in all gameplay modes was no longer possible. Many people linked the two events together due to the timing, suspecting that ESA member and publisher of Dying Light Warner Bros. was using the DMCA like a massive club to smack down the mod-making community of the game.

The ESA though has denied this, stating that the “ESA was notified this morning that potentially erroneous DMCA notices had been transmitted by one of its vendors. Upon further review, it was determined that the notices should not have been sent and retractions were issued immediately. We regret any inconvenience and have taken steps to avoid similar situations in the future.”

At the same time Techland have said that the effects of the new patch on single-player modification was an unintended side effect of their attempts to stop multiplayer cheating. They have said they’re working on a way to get modding restored as soon as possible.

“Creating obstacles for modders has never been our intention. We are now working on a quick patch that will re-enable common tweaks while stopping cheating in the game’s multiplayer mode.”