UK-based company Datel, which sells software enabling infinite boosts in the racing game MotorStorm, has not violated EU copyright law, judges in Luxembourg ruled—a decision some believe could have significant implications for the gaming industry.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) determined that third-party add-ons for Sony PlayStation games, which provide extra player options, do not infringe EU copyright law. This ruling came as a blow to Sony in a case considered crucial to the modding ecosystem, a gaming sub-industry valued in the hundreds of millions.

“The Directive on the legal protection of computer programs does not allow the copyright holder to prevent a third party from marketing software that only modifies variables temporarily transferred to working memory,” the judges said in their statement.

They further clarified, “The directive only protects the intellectual creation as expressed in the source and object code of the program.”

Datel’s software, sold in the UK, allows players to gain infinite boosts in MotorStorm and enables motion-sensor control of the console. The court was asked to consider whether this violated 2009 EU game copyright laws, given that Datel’s add-ons don’t alter the source code but simply change temporary variables in the memory.

Sony had argued that Datel’s software “latches on like a parasite” to PlayStation games. However, in a non-binding opinion issued earlier, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar dismissed the argument, stating there was nothing unlawful about using copyrighted works in ways unintended by their creators.

“The author of a detective novel cannot prevent the reader from skipping to the end to discover the killer’s identity, even if that ruins the suspense,” said Szpunar, who also ruled against Sony.

Some critics accuse Sony of overstepping in its attempt to control how players modify, or “mod,” its products—a practice foundational to the gaming world. Gaming activist Ross Scott compared it to adding highlights to a book or changing a car’s wheels and noted that cheating in single-player games is a “victimless crime.”

Scott, who also spearheads a separate EU petition aimed at preventing game companies from shutting down online-only games, believes Sony’s position could set a dangerous precedent for software across various sectors.

“If you take away all the games with roots in modding, we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars,” Scott said, citing titles like Fortnite, which evolved from older modded versions.