Gears For Breakfast is doing something most larger AAA publishers never do: they’re embracing the mod community. Some gamers have already been doing model swaps and texture alterations to A Hat In Time, but Gears For Breakfast wanted to give modders to take their skills to the next level by offering them a free update that fully embraces the modding community.

Now some of you might be thinking “We can already play with mods, so what’s the point of the update?” Well, Gears For Breakfast wanted to include the custom modifications for the game into the actual game loop. In an update post over on the Steam page, they explain…

“This update brings our mod support out of beta, and natively integrates mods into the game loop: By playing mods and completing mod levels, you receive Rift Tokens which can be used to purchase new hat flairs, remixes, and more! In addition, we’ve also added new flairs to the game”

They’re also hosting a $1,000 map contest, rewarding modders who can come up with the best map mod for A Hat In Time.

Not only that, but the developers are actually including community-crafted mods into the agame, including the ability to dye the main hats, and the German fan translation for German gamers.

Gears For Breakfast even compensated the modders for their time and work.

The update also adds three new achievements, Japanese language support, an all new in-game modding menu, four new flairs, and stars showing up when you meet certain conditions when saving the game.

The developers also discounted the game by 33% off the normal price, so you can pick up a digital copy on Steam for just $20.09.

A Hat In Time is basically a crowdfunded project done right. The developers have reaped their rewards by moving more than 130,000 copies on PC alone, according to Steam Spy.

It basically proves that if you treat your fans right, they’ll buy your product. It’s a lesson many AAA developers have either forgotten or abandoned. You can pick up a digital copy of A Hat In Time right now by visiting the Steam store page.