Bethesda Removes Political Mod “Thatcher’s Techbase” from Certified Listings
Bethesda has removed the Doom mod “Thatcher’s Techbase” from its certified mod listings after complaints regarding the mod’s political content. The mod, which has been available for years, centers around the fictional battle against the resurrected spirit of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who ruled from 1979 to 1990 and passed away in 2013. In the mod, Thatcher returns as a villain in a satirical alternate universe known as “The Tenth Circle of Hell: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”
The issue arose after Bethesda’s recent “definitive” bundle of Doom 1 and 2 introduced official mod support, extending to console versions and allowing modders to share their work more widely. With this semi-official status came increased scrutiny, and apparently, the content of Thatcher’s Techbase sparked complaints from some users who felt the mod was too political.
Jim Purvis, the creator of Thatcher’s Techbase, shared the news of the mod’s removal on social media on August 30, accompanied by a message from Bethesda’s customer support. According to Bethesda, the mod was reported for its inclusion of “real-world politics” and removed from the official listings. The message also stated that Purvis’s account received an “official education notice,” referring to Bethesda’s guidelines about acceptable mod content.
While the mod has been pulled from Bethesda’s official mod catalog, it remains available through other channels, including its original site. Nevertheless, its future on Bethesda’s platform appears uncertain.
The incident raises questions about Bethesda’s approach to moderating mod content, especially when it comes to material that references real-world figures and events. While Thatcher’s Techbase is a satirical, absurdist take on Doom, its political themes—however exaggerated—place it in a gray area under Bethesda’s content guidelines.
Whether this signals Bethesda’s broader stance on political satire in modding remains to be seen, but the case of Thatcher’s Techbase shows that even fictionalized depictions of historical figures can provoke controversy when mixed with popular games.
