GTA 5 Liberty City Mod: Legal Shutdown Announced

Summary

• A GTA 5 mod featuring Liberty City was discontinued after "speaking to Rockstar Games."
• Many players believe the modders were compelled to halt the project due to legal pressures.
• Despite this setback, the modding team remains enthusiastic and plans to continue modding for the game.

An incredible Grand Theft Auto 5 mod that allowed players to revisit Liberty City has been shut down, marking a sad development for fans who were excited about its release in 2024.

While some game companies, such as Bethesda, embrace community modding, others like Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, often take a more stringent stance. Despite the restrictive policies of some publishers, modders continue their efforts, and even with this unfortunate event, the team behind the mod remains committed to their passion for modding GTA.

The modding team, World Travel, responsible for GTA 5's Liberty City Preservation Project, announced the mod's discontinuation on their Discord channel. They cited "unexpected attention" and a conversation with Rockstar Games as the reasons for pulling the mod. While the modders did not disclose further details about their discussions with Rockstar, they expressed a continued interest in modding for GTA, highlighting it as their "passion."

Another GTA Mod Bites the Dust

Although World Travel did not explicitly state they were forced to shut down the mod, the gaming community suspects otherwise. The phrase "speaking to Rockstar Games" suggests a more amicable exchange, but it's widely believed that the team was warned of potential legal action, such as a DMCA takedown, should they continue. Given that most mods are created by volunteers without legal support, such warnings typically lead to the swift closure of projects.

Fans of the Liberty City mod have expressed their disappointment on social media, criticizing Rockstar and Take-Two for their aggressive stance on mods. The frustration is compounded by the fact that GTA 6 is set to feature Vice City rather than Liberty City, leading to speculation that the mod might have been seen as a threat to GTA 4 sales. However, many argue that this reasoning is flawed, as GTA 4 continues to age and playing the mod still requires owning GTA 5. Despite the reasoning behind the publisher's decision, the mod is no longer available. Fans can only hope that future projects from World Travel fare better, though it seems unlikely that Take-Two's approach to mods will change in the near future.