Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has been removing popular classic Grand Theft Auto mods 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 a hard stand against the GTA modding community.
The publisher infamously pressured OpenIV, a popular Grand Theft Auto 5 modding program, to shut 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 modding community, as old Grand Theft Auto mods for PC have been taken down from ModDB as recently as July 17, with several prominent Vice City and San Andreas modifications being now no longer available.
This was made public by several popular Grand Theft Auto 5 modders, 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 user silent'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 PC GTA mods, 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 modification that allowed gamers to explore the map of Vice City to Liberty City in Grand 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 classic GTA remakes. Others have theorized it might be the outcome of GTA 6 with 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 5 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions are currently in development.
Source: Rockstar Games, Screen Rant, Twitter