Garry also expects GMod to require an existing Source game in an account to be purchasable. It’s not an unreasonable condition considering what buyers would get for $10 otherwise, and interestingly it is his hope that the new version will be flexible enough to work with any Source game without developer input: “If you only have CSS”, he says, “it would recognise that…when Episode One is released GMod would realise that too and automatically mount the GCFs”. It’s only with the new technology in GMod 9.1 that this might be achieved, Source and Steam allowing: for instance, the new spawn menu has a configurable system of categories and filters from a base list of all of the resources available, and it will also automatically generate icons for anything spawnable, removing the need to produce icons for every object in the world, keep up with new releases, and still not cover the third party props.

Steam might be helpful in that scenario, but exposing GMod to a new pool of players and excluding those who can’t or won’t pay is going to put the community under significant strain, and what comes out when the dust settles will almost certainly be very different, even if that settling takes several months. Garry is optimistic on the matter. “PetitionOnline will probably explode,” he admits, “but eventually I think everyone will see that this is a great move”.

The litmus test of whether or not they do that will be the relative sizes and productivity of the paid and free communities. The two versions will not be compatible, 9.1 being the rewrite it is, and as time goes on the gap between each will grow. Will more people pay than drop out? Will the older credit card-holding audience be as drawn to GMod’s brilliantly silly, ad hoc gameplay? Will the new community without younger players be a better one? Garry certainly thinks so, but what will actually happen is anyone’s guess. The potential gentrification of an online game should be interesting to watch.