Often, when a player wants to add a feature to a game or completely overhaul a given title, they will look to mods to accomplish that. Modifications for games on PC have been around for decades, andmods for games likeSkyrimhave helped keep the game alive and given it plenty of new content for players to enjoy. However, not all companies see mods as a positive thing, it seems, asGrand Theft AutoandRed Dead RedemptionpublisherTake-TwoInteractivehas recently shown.A modder known as LukeRoss recently posted a lengthy message to his fans on Patreon stating that he had received a request from Take-Two to take down his VR mods forGrand Theft Auto 5,Red Dead Redemption 2, andMafia Definitive Edition. Reportedly,Take-Twois demanding that Ross remove all of his work from his Patreon page, due to the use of the company’s copyrighted material. Ross is best known for his work in givingGrand Theft Auto 5,Red Dead Redemption 2,andMafia Definitive EditionVR modes.RELATED:New GTA 5 4K Visual Mod Makes the Game Look Even More StunningIn his statement, Ross went on to say that he intends to get clarification from Take-Two about why exactly the publisher is issuing a takedown request for his mods. He also stated that this request comes from a copyright issue and not a licensing issue, so it allegedly doesn’t have anything to do with Ross making money from his mods via Patreon. Considering that the mods are original pieces of software and that theGrand Theft AutoVR modhas been out for a while, it seems odd that Take-Two would choose now as the time to issue a takedown notice.
However, Ross intends to respect copyright above all else. While he states he has attempted to do that with his mods, by only building on the original experience ofRed Dead Redemption 2to give it a VR modeand users a new way to play, he also admits that should he not receive any clarifications from Take-Two, then he will remove all works even “remotely related” to any games published by Take-Two.
This isn’t the first time fan creations have been targeted by video game companies, and Take-Two has issued copyright takedown notices for similar creations before. In February 2021, the publisher went after fans who were reverse-engineering thesource code forGTA 3andGrand Theft Auto: Vice City. This resulted in the project, which aimed to allow fans to mod the games, being shut down.
