We know this news came as a surprise and has brought up a lot of questions. Modrinth is a platform built for its community, so we want to be as transparent as possible about what this means, what is changing, and what is staying the same.
Below are answers to the questions we’ve seen come up most from the community following the announcement. We’ve tried to make them as concise and direct as we can. We also have a full video Q&A available on YouTube which we recorded live the day of the announcement.
Why was it necessary to sell Modrinth?
The honest answer is that Jai moved on with his life. He started Modrinth when he was 13, and he is in college now. Modrinth now supports 20+ employees, tens of thousands of creators, and tens of millions of users. All of those people deserve someone who can show up for them every day.
Why did Modrinth choose Spark Universe?
It was important to us that if Modrinth joined a larger company, those people came from Minecraft. Spark is a team of Minecraft creators, many of whom even publish on Modrinth, so they understand the community better than most. We knew Spark would be one of the more controversial choices because a lot of people in our community vocally don’t like Essential Mod, but we also believed it was what was best for Modrinth.
What happens to the Modrinth team, and who runs Modrinth now?
Modrinth continues to be built by the same people. Josh is still leading the team. Spark is here to support us, not to have someone from Spark run Modrinth.
What role will Spark Universe have in Modrinth’s decisions?
Everyone who works on Modrinth has a say in what we build. There are a few more people at the table now, but decisions are still made as a group. Spark also puts a lot of weight on our team’s opinion because we know what is right for our community as we have built it into what it is today.
What is changing for Modrinth users?
Modrinth should only get better for users. The acquisition helps stabilize the platform and solidify its future. There have been many times in Modrinth’s history where its future was uncertain, but this gives us a stronger foundation as long as we keep making the right decisions for the community.
Will Modrinth remain open source?
Yes. Our code is available for anyone to use, adapt, and contribute to. It’s core to our mission and Spark will not change that.
Will Modrinth content become paid, or will the platform become more monetized through ads, microtransactions, or similar changes?
No. Modrinth exists to create value for modders, not extract value from them. The more money we make, the more we can distribute to creators, but we will not do that in a way that negatively impacts users (gating features or adding more ads).
Will Essential Mod or other Spark Universe projects receive favoritism or be integrated into Modrinth?
No. Essential is a completely separate team at Spark. Content on Modrinth will never get favoritism, regardless of where it comes from. We will maintain our neutrality.
Will Modrinth become enshittified?
No. We love getting to work on Modrinth as our jobs, and we will continue putting the same love into it that we always have.
How can the community trust what the Modrinth team is saying?
We are not asking for your blind trust. We are asking you to watch what happens and hold us accountable. Modrinth is still being built by the same team, and we hope you give the people at Spark the chance to earn your trust too.
Thank you for trusting and supporting us through the past six years. We find it really cool that this project we started back in 2020 just for fun has grown into something so big that over 20 people (and counting) are able to work on it as their careers.
We couldn’t have done it without you, and we hope to still see you around in another six and beyond.