Liberty City GTA 5 Mod Shut Down Following Contact with Rockstar Games
A highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 5 mod recreating Liberty City has been discontinued. The news follows the mod's popularity in 2024 and has left many players disappointed.
While some game developers embrace modding, others take a stricter approach. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games' parent company, has a history of taking action against mods, similar to Nintendo. Despite this, the modding community persists. The team behind the "Liberty City Preservation Project," known as World Travel, announced the shutdown on their Discord server. They cited "unexpected attention" and subsequent communication with Rockstar Games as the reason for removing the mod. While the specifics remain undisclosed, the team affirmed their ongoing passion for GTA modding.
Another Modding Casualty
While World Travel hasn't explicitly stated coercion, many suspect the mod's closure was a result of pressure from Rockstar Games. The phrasing suggests a discussion, but the likely outcome was a warning about potential legal action, such as a DMCA takedown. Independent modders, lacking legal representation, often comply with such warnings to avoid costly litigation.
The community's reaction has been largely negative, with many criticizing Rockstar and Take-Two for their aggressive stance on modding. This is particularly frustrating given the absence of Liberty City in the upcoming GTA 6, which currently features Vice City. Concerns about impacting GTA 4 sales are speculated, though this seems illogical considering GTA 4's age and the requirement of owning GTA 5 to play the mod. Regardless, the mod is unavailable, leaving fans hoping future projects from World Travel fare better. Take-Two's approach to modding, however, appears unlikely to change.
