It’s possible that they’re already done thinking and have figured out a way to make paid mods more acceptable for the community, but many fans are still hoping that this isn’t the case, judging by discussions on forums.
It looks like paid mods are just too delicate of a subject for many gamers, and there’s no real way to approach that situation which won’t end up hurting the studio’s reputation in the long run. On the other hand, some gamers agree that modders deserve to get paid for their work.
With all that in mind, it will be interesting to see how the studio potentially tackles the issue, and if they’ll be able to convince gamers that this is actually not a bad idea.
Whatever the big announcement is, it should come before the end of this year. The Steam database entry didn’t give any real indication for the potential release date of the new content, but it wouldn’t make much sense for Bethesda to delay it beyond December, so hopefully we’re going to see the news soon.
Plus, the holiday season would be a great opportunity to make a revelation like this, as many people would be more willing to spend a little extra money on their copy of “Fallout 4”, and upgrade it with some extra content if it becomes available in the Steam store.