Overview
- The founders of SteamDB sold the donation-funded site to Chosen on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, after co‑founder Pavel “xPaw” Djundik said long-term upkeep had become a full‑time burden and caused burnout.
- Both parties pledge SteamDB will keep its name, brand, community spaces, browser extension and all current free features while xPaw helps with a multi‑month handover.
- Chosen says it will invest in backend work — hiring staff, improving infrastructure, security and scalability — rather than making immediate visible changes to the site.
- The buyer says SteamDB must become financially sustainable and will explore lighter‑touch options such as affiliate links, partnerships and developer integrations while ruling out display ads or paywalls for existing features.
- Users reacted with swift skepticism on social platforms because Chosen previously took over Nexus Mods in 2025 and some community changes there were unpopular, and longer‑term technical ties between SteamDB data and mod tools remain exploratory.