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. While some game developers embrace modding, others, like Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company), are known for taking action against fan-made projects.
The modding team, World Travel, behind the "Liberty City Preservation Project," announced the shutdown on their Discord server. They cited "unexpected attention" and conversations with Rockstar Games as the reason for removing the mod. While the specifics remain undisclosed, the team expressed continued dedication to GTA modding, highlighting it as their passion.
Another Casualty of Aggressive Mod Policies
Although World Travel hasn't explicitly confirmed coercion, many suspect the mod's closure resulted from pressure from Rockstar Games. Contact from the developer often precedes legal action, such as DMCA takedowns, which smaller modding teams are ill-equipped to handle.
The community's reaction has been overwhelmingly negative, with many criticizing Rockstar and Take-Two's aggressive stance towards modding. This is particularly frustrating as GTA 6's confirmed locations don't include Liberty City, leaving fans with limited options to revisit the iconic setting. While concerns about impacting GTA 4 sales have been suggested, this seems unlikely given GTA 4's age and the requirement of owning GTA 5 to play the mod.
The future of World Travel's modding endeavors remains uncertain. While their passion persists, Take-Two's history suggests that the company's approach to modding is unlikely to change in the near future. The loss of this mod serves as a reminder of the ongoing tension between fan creativity and corporate copyright protection.
