Current Events > Legally, can a decent game mod team crowdsource funds to make more?

(+) Yeah! (+)

The scenario is this: For games that release toolkits or SDK's, a team rises up that makes great mods, maybe even total conversion. They're known as a team with a particular style, genre, and atmosphere. Let's say they make tons of mods for Skyrim, Fallout 4, RPG's. Their mods are well written, polished, and could pass off as professionally made.

This team continues to make mods (for free), but opens up a patreon to support their team to leapfrog from game to game, using their assets and released editors to make free mods, but now the community is paying them to do it. Since they are using /other/ games assets and profiting on them, inherently, would that still be legal? Or is it a video game developer piggybacking on other engines/assets to profit, thus being shady?
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I don't think they can lock mods behind a paywall but they can certainly accept donations and suggestions.
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