Players Choice - Mod of the Year 2022 feature

Welcome to the 2022 Mod of the Year results! With top 100 voting having taken place over the last 20 days, the results have now been tallied and we are ready to announce the winners! Our favorite moments in 2022 include our sister company mod.io surpassing a 500 million download milestone, and the announcement of RTX Remix as a gateway into modernising the classic games of yesteryear.

Below you will find the Top 10 Mods of 2022. While you're at it, you can also check out the Top 10 Indie Games of 2022, or join the site in anticipation for next year's awards to register a mod of your own or vote for those you think deserve recognition in 2023.

The cut content of Half-Life 2 is an undiscovered country, with many mods trying and unfortunately failing to reach the finishing line on new and old versions of the Source Engine. That's why, then, it's all the more impressive when one makes a release - and as polished as Coterminus especially. A great little window into what Half-Life 2 could have been, there's plenty more to see in the future.

A CSGO gameplay and weapon mod that aims to restore some of the mechanics and feel familiar to 1.6 veterans in the new engine! New weapon models join adjusted weapon balance, new interaction sounds, and maps updated from their classic CS origins to hit a nice mix between old and new. For fans who think CSGO has strayed too far from its roots, this mod might be just what you’re looking for.

RealRTCW is based on ioRTCW source port, which provides proper widescreen support, high quality sound engine and 64-bit systems support. It expands the arsenal, with new HD models for weapons, new textures for environments and characters (that remain faithful to the original), and numerous other overhauls. Plus, cut content is restored which means there's more to dig into for diehard fans of the game.

Thirteen years in the making, Field Intensity is a mod that, like Opposing Force, puts you in the shoes of the military men sent to cleanup Black Mesa's mess. Unlike Opposing Force, however, your orders are clear - no witnesses. As your squad is picked off one by one, and when no one in the facility wants your help anymore, the only ally you have left - is yourself.

DOOM's 2.5D graphical style is iconic to that early era of FPS, and a gold mine for traditional 2D artists looking to make some great stylised stuff. Sourceports have had some form of 3D or another for years now, but one modder took a more unique approach with Voxel DOOM, which both preserves the original DOOM art style whilst giving it a lick of that elusive 3rd dimensional goodness.

While starting off small, the DNF 2001 Restoration Project quickly blossomed into an organized team the size of a small studio. All of these members hail from various parts of the world, with remote work taking place any time of the day. Many of these are industry experts, with plenty of well-known community figures and modders thrown into the mix hoping to leave their mark on the final restoration.

Empire at War begins with a focus on the original trilogy era - the galaxy already in the grip of the Empire, with the Rebellion's struggle to liberate it. However, some prefer to go back in continuity a little to see how things came to be, and so the prequel era mod, Fall of the Republic, tackles this period of all-out war and moral ambiguity.

Warhammer 40k is a little bit of a deceiving title for a universe, given there's ample lore spanning from 30k to the 42nd millennium, with a smattering of ancient worldbuilding preceding even that. With over ten thousand years of established canon to utilise, it's no wonder 40k mods have a great showing on-site, and Unification is among the best - as far as users are concerned - for bringing to life much of the fan favourite forces from the tabletop and lore in the fondly loved Dawn of War Soulstorm. Fight huge battles with map-sized titans, or put legendary god-like warriors like the Primarchs to the test - this mod really is a 40k strategy fan's dream.

Anomaly is a standalone S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mod powered by an x64 version of the X-Ray engine. Starting with version 1.5.0 Anomaly uses a custom engine build called the XRay-Monolith engine. After almost one year of development of the Anomaly 1.5.0 update, the mod continues its way on expanding and adding new features while maintaining a high level of quality and replay value.

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1ST PLACE

Entropy : Zero 2

For: Half-Life 2: Episode Two

2022's top pole position is claimed by none other than Entropy : Zero 2 - the sequel to the also fondly remembered Entropy : Zero. Putting you in the shoes of a no-mercy Combine Elite as you hunt down the Borealis and resistance scientists, it's a combat and story overhaul like few others with an engaging cast of original characters. Carefully considered, lovingly crafted, perhaps one of Entropy : Zero's greatest legacies (and reason for its runaway MOTY success) is its own creator community, fostered via Steam Workshop support for the sequel and in the form of numerous submods on-site (one of which even placed in our Best Upcoming category). Culminating in a story that brings us closer to that fabled Episode 3 story than practically any other, Entropy : Zero 2 is proof positive that sometimes the best games are, actually, the best mods.

With so many fantastic mods posting major updates and leveraging their passionate communities, we'd like to direct your praise and attention to these honorable mentions. A honorable mention is given for polling strongly in the awards, but being ineligible due to placing higher in a previous year, or if a significant update was not released in 2022:

The 2022 awards are proudly supported by mod.io. Launch an official mod community for your game with powerful moderation, discovery, events, marketplace and metrics systems, using our cross-platform mod SDKs and plugins for Unity and Unreal Engine. Interested in adding mods to your game and finding out more? Reach out for a demonstration.

Congratulations to all the modders and community members who participated in the 2022 Mod of the Year awards! We wish you all the best for your continued modding efforts into the new year and beyond.