Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has been removing popular classicGrand Theft Automods dating back to 2005 through a series of DMCA takedowns. Many modders have been left outraged and frustrated since these purges occurred, without notice, over the course of several days. The publisher has not explained why it has started eliminating these pioneering mods, but this would not be the first time it has taken ahard stand against the GTA modding community.
The publisher infamously pressured OpenIV, a popularGrand Theft Auto 5modding program, toshut down altogether in 2017, but because of extreme backlash from the community following the removal, the publisher eventually reversed its decision and issued a new set of guidelines for modders. Although now it would appear it is repeating a similar turn of events against the moddingcommunity, as oldGrand Theft Automods for PC have been taken down from ModDB as recently as July 17, with several prominentVice CityandSan Andreasmodifications being now no longer available.
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This was made public by several popularGrand Theft Auto 5modders, who revealed that their work on earlier games in the series has been completely terminated, citing DMCA claims from publisher Take-Two Interactive. The full breadth of the takedowns is outlined in Twitter usersilent’s post, which also includes hypotheses and comments from the afflicted mod creators.
Overall, these takedowns have confused many as some of these mods are over a decade old and have existed for a very long time without any issue from Take-Two, with Rockstar Games even releasing an agreement on its website in 2017 regarding PCGTAmods, essentially affirming that mods are fine if they are non-commercial and single-player. But this does not seem to be the case as one of the removed mods include “GTA Underground,“a popular free modificationthat allowed gamers to explore the map of Vice City to Liberty City inGrand Theft Auto San Andreas, a single-player title that is currently sixteen years old.
There is no recent official public statement available from the publisher regarding the sudden change of heart, however, it would appear the agreement was revised in 2019, adding a caution that Take-Two Interactive can disregard the restrictions it established at any time, with no notification required: ‘Take-Two reserves the right to object to any third-party project, or to revise, revoke and/or withdraw this statement at any time in their own discretion.”
It’s unclear why Take-Two is suddenly pursuing these mods for DMCA violations, years after they were initially posted. Some speculate it may be related to the long-rumored classicGTAremakes. Others have theorized it might be the outcome ofGTA 6with a speculated 2025 release. But this is just conjecture, and as with all unverified claims, they should be taken with a hint of skepticism.
ModDB’s management sought to contact Take-Two to fix the dilemma without pulling mods, however, the company was unresponsive. For the time being, ModDB has no choice but to comply with the takedowns.
Grand Theft Auto 5is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions are currently in development.
