Game Design NOT from scratch - building on firm foundations

Despite my best efforts at making this primarily a pen & paper RPG blog, I think my posts on computer games design are beginning to outweigh the former.  That's what you get from working in the industry I guess.  Nevermind.  I shall press on...

Because ideas for games can come from playing other games, I recognise the potential of modding.

The world renowned Counter-Strike, of course, started life as a mod.  The almost as well known Day Z did the same.  There are in fact numerous, notable examples.

I think there's an industry opportunity here that, to my knowledge has never been achieved.  Say you're Rockstar sitting on the GTA5 platform.  And by platform in this sense I don't just mean the engine the game is built upon, I mean the entire package.  Imagine being able to lift the bonnet on GTA5 and tweak the code and content to your heart's desire.  This is essentially what modders do. Different games make it easier or harder for this to be done and there is an argument to actually facilitate this as a popular mod can extend the shelf life of its base game.

But the industry misses a trick here, I think.

What about monetising the modding community?

Here's my point:  Games Development studios should actively encourage modding, and incorporate a licence agreement so that modders can SELL their mod, and split the proceeds between the modding team and the original developer.  More money for the original developer and actual money for the modding team.

AFAIK this has not been done to date.

It ought to be.