Publisher Take-Two has deleted some of the most popular mods for GTA titles like GTA Vice City and San Andreas in recent days – apparently due to copyright issues.
What is going on? There has been unrest in the GTA modding community in recent days. Take-Two forced the creators of popular mods to delete their work.
What’s so special about this? Usually, such actions are only known from newer titles like GTA 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2. But now it seems that Take-Two has also decided to take a closer look at older titles.
This is probably the reason: Currently, there are two theories regarding the possible reasons behind the deletions. One relates to the DMCA law in the USA, the other speculates about possible remakes.
Rule change makes almost all mods “illegal”
This could be behind it: A theory among some players is that Rockstar might be working on remakes of GTA III, San Andreas, and Vice City. However, the other theory is considered more likely.
Modder Ash_735 tried to reach out directly to the publisher to find out the reason for the action. He did not receive a direct response, but a DMCA warning followed.
This is not the first time modders have faced issues with the GTA publisher. So they previously pulled large mod projects that aimed to bring a remake of Liberty City (GTA 4) to GTA 5. This resulted in numerous negative reviews for GTA 5 at the time.
In the meantime, Take-Two almost wanted to completely ban modding of GTA titles, but the outcry from the community was able to prevent this. Subsequently, clear rules for modding in GTA were presented in 2017:
- The online mode must not be tampered with
- Mods must not generate any revenue
Thus, mods became possible again, but the dream of Liberty City in GTA 5 was dead.
Why are there problems again? In June 2019, however, Rockstar made changes to the rules again without significantly communicating it (via rockstargames.com). For example, it was no longer allowed to incorporate assets from other games, including other Rockstar titles.
Also, new games, stories, missions, or maps are now banned. This made numerous mods, if not nearly all, “illegal” as well. Why Take-Two is only now enforcing this rule, two years later, remains open.
Popular mods for GTA San Andreas and Vice City affected – End of GTA mods?
Which mods have been affected so far? So far, the deletions include 5 mods for San Andreas and Vice City. The oldest affected mod is already 16 years old. It is the “Liberty City Mod”. It has been around since 2005 and brought the city from GTA 4 to the old GTA title Vice City.
Another victim of the action was the mod “Liberty City Stories”, released in 2008, which inserted the namesake PSP game from 2005 as a mod into GTA San Andreas.
Ash_735 has summarized the events and affected mods in a forum post on the official GTA forum. Here are some examples:
- GTA: Underground
- GTA: Liberty City
- GTA State of Liberty
- GTAV on San Andreas
- Vice Cry
- Liberty City Stories: PC Edition
- Vice City Stories: PC Edition
Apparently, many other mods are also affected.
How are the players reacting? Take-Two’s action is causing quite a frustration among fans. Some fear that the end of modding for Rockstar games may have begun:
User Silent fears on Twitter: “Rockstar and Take-Two have decided they no longer need modding and are gradually phasing it out. No one knows how far they will go.”
The community manager of the modding site ModDB is also disappointed: “I just want to say that we can’t do much now but comply with the DMCA, but as a modder of various games who has delivered several mods in his time, this has made me sad as well.” (via Twitter)
The modders are receiving much support from numerous players. Whether this helps remains to be seen. So far, Rockstar or Take-Two have not commented on the matter.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
