Update 25 May, 2016: Following the comments from the COO of Paradox yesterday, the creator of the controversial mod has re-uploaded it to Steam Workshop under a new name and with caveats.

‘European Phenotypes and Names REBORN!‘, as it’s now called, adds the mod in its original form, but without the ‘White Humans’ tag. Of course, it still makes it so there is only white humans. “This is really just being uploaded as an experiment to test how far Paradox will lie about banning my other mod,” said creator Lord Xel.

The creator claims to have never been contacted by Paradox, and even goes as far as to accuse them of “lies and slander”. Xei goes on to say that people need to be careful what they say in the comments, and has been moderating them since, with as much disdain possible.

Paradox already said they won’t be commenting on this mod any further, so it’s unlikely we’ll hear any more on the matter, but we will update if we do.

Ta, PCGamer.

Update 24 May, 2016: Paradox have clarified their stance on this matter, saying it isn’t the mod itself that’s the main problem, but more the conversation surrounding it, hence it being pulled.

Paradox COO, Susana Meza Graham, explained via Twitlonger: “We have a few rules of conduct that have been in effect for the better part of a decade where racial slurs, among other things, are not allowed. We interpreted this particular mod as breaking those rules of conduct, however it would appear that the comments surrounding the mod, rather than the mod itself, were the biggest problem.

“We welcome everyone to create all kind of mods for us as long as they comply with our rules of conduct and we expect our modders to help us keep the comment sections free of any racial slurs or other things that do not comply with these same codes.”

You can read the company’s rules of conduct here. Graham closed her statement by clarifying this would be the last time the company commented on the mod in question.

Original Story 24 May, 2016: Stellaris allows you to explore a vast, varied galaxy full of different species and cultures, spanning millions of light-years. That diverse sandbox just wasn’t enough for one modder, however, which is why they created the ‘European Phenotype and Names Only (White Humans)’ mod.

Explore more of the endless void in our list of the best space games.

Paradox have since had the mod removed from the Steam Workshop, although it still exists on the popular modding sites.

By default, human empires in Stellaris are made up of a diverse mix of human races. Y’know, like the actual world is.

Paradox had the following to say:

“We shipped the game originally with an accurate representation of humans, that is to say diverse in both ethnicity and personality,” a Paradox spokesperson told Eurogamer. “We embrace the idea that players mod the game to best represent how they want to play, we do NOT however wish to enable discriminatory practices.

“We appreciate any inappropriate mods being brought to our attention and will take them down where necessary, we also encourage players to make use of the flagging function provided by Valve where needed.”