Mods (mod.io)

Offer mods for your game with the mod.io Embed Hub and one-click installs in the launcher

Give your players a Mods tab directly inside your launcher, powered by mod.io. Players browse your game's mod catalog, log in with their mod.io account, and subscribe to mods. The launcher downloads and installs them automatically into the game's Mods folder. No custom UGC infrastructure needed.

What is the mod.io Embed Hub? A white-label mod browser hosted by mod.io that you configure and brand from your mod.io game dashboard. Game Launcher Cloud embeds it as a per-game tab and connects it to the launcher's native install pipeline, following the official mod.io integration contract.

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Requirements

Requirement	Where to get it
A game registered on mod.io	mod.io game dashboard
mod.io Game ID and API key (read-only)	mod.io dashboard, API access step of the game setup (e.g. Game ID 13760)
Game Launcher Cloud Pro plan or higher	choose-plan

The read-only mod.io API key is designed to be embedded in game clients. Never use your mod.io OAuth secrets here, the launcher only needs the api_key.

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Setup

1

Register your game on mod.io

Go to mod.io/g/add and complete the registration form for your game.

2

Set up the Embed Hub

Once mod.io grants Embed Hub access to your game, configure the hub (theme, layout, enabled features) in your game dashboard and copy the hub URL from the Embed code tab.

3

Copy your credentials

From your game's page on mod.io, copy the Game ID, the read-only API key and the Embed Hub URL.

4

Open the mod.io integration in Game Launcher Cloud

Go to your dashboard, select your app and open Integrations, mod.io.

5

Fill in the integration fields

Field	Required	Description
Game ID	Yes	Numeric ID of your game on mod.io. Used to download mod files through the mod.io API.
API Key	Yes	Read-only mod.io api_key for your game.
Embed Hub URL	Optional	The URL from the Embed code tab of your mod.io dashboard.
Install Folder Name	Optional	Folder inside the game installation where mods are extracted. Default: Mods

6

Enable and save

Toggle the integration on and save. The launcher shows a Mods tab for this game on the next manifest refresh.

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How it works in the launcher

1. Mods tab: appears in the top navigation when the selected game has mod.io configured, and disappears for games without it.
2. Browse and log in: players use the Embed Hub as usual (browse, search, rate, comment) and log in with their mod.io account inside the hub. If the player is logged into your launcher, their email pre-fills the mod.io sign-in.
3. Subscribe = install: when a player subscribes to a mod, the launcher downloads the mod file through the mod.io API, verifies its integrity (MD5) and extracts it into the game's install directory:

{Game install folder}\Mods\{mod-name}-{modId}\

1. Unsubscribe = uninstall: the mod folder is removed automatically.
2. Updates: every time the Mods tab is opened, the launcher first verifies API access with your Game ID and API Key (this call registers usage on your game's mod.io API path), then checks installed mods against mod.io and reinstalls any mod whose file changed.
3. State tracking: installed mods are recorded in Mods\modio_state.json (mod id, file id, version, activation). Your game can read this file to know which mods to load.

Reading mods from your game Load mod content from the Mods folder inside the game's install directory. Use modio_state.json to know which mods are installed and marked active by the player.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause and fix
Mods tab does not appear	The integration must be enabled with Game ID, API Key and Embed Hub URL filled in, the launcher owner needs a Pro plan or higher, and a game with mod.io configured must be selected.
Hub loads but login fails or pages open in the browser	Whitelist your hosting domain in the mod.io Embed Hub settings. If your hub links to external sites, add them to Extra Allowed Domains.
"The embedded web view requires the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime"	The player's system is missing the WebView2 Evergreen Runtime. It ships with Windows 11 and modern Windows 10; players can install it from Microsoft.
Subscribing does nothing	Verify the Game ID and API Key belong to the same mod.io game as the Embed Hub URL.
mod.io rejected go-live: "no hits to our API"	mod.io approves go-live only after seeing traffic on your game's API path. Fill in the integration, select the game in your launcher and open the Mods tab at least once: the launcher makes a verification API call on every open. Then reply to the mod.io team and ask for a new review. Note that mod.io only approves official integrations with studios and publishers.
The Mods tab shows "your game is not set up"	Your game is still hidden on mod.io (pending go-live approval), so the public hub page cannot load it yet. This is not a launcher issue. The mod.io API still works with your game's own API Key in the meantime, which is how the launcher generates the API usage needed for approval.