GTA 5 Liberty City Mod Project Halted

Summary

• A Grand Theft Auto 5 mod recreating Liberty City has been shut down after communication with Rockstar Games.
• Many players believe the modders were compelled to cease development.
• Despite this setback, the modding team, driven by passion, intends to continue creating mods for the game.

A highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 5 mod, bringing back the beloved Liberty City, has been discontinued. This follows the considerable excitement surrounding its 2024 release.

While some game developers, such as Bethesda, embrace community modding, others take a stricter approach. Gamers are familiar with the frequent takedowns of mods by companies like Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company). Despite this legal landscape, dedicated modders persevere. Even with this unfortunate development, the team behind the mod plans to continue their modding endeavors.

The developers of the GTA 5 Liberty City Preservation Project announced the mod's discontinuation. World Travel, the modding group, explained on their Discord server that the project received "unexpected attention" and, following discussions with Rockstar Games, decided to remove the mod. While they offered no specifics about the discussions, they confirmed their ongoing passion for GTA modding.

Another GTA Mod Meets its End

Although World Travel hasn't explicitly stated coercion, many players suspect they were pressured to shut down the mod. The description of "speaking to Rockstar Games" suggests a seemingly amicable conversation, but it likely involved a warning about potential legal action, such as a DMCA takedown. Given that most modders are volunteers without legal representation, such contact often leads to project closure.

Fans are disappointed by the mod's removal and have criticized Rockstar and Take-Two on social media for their aggressive stance on modding. This disappointment is heightened by the lack of confirmation that GTA 6 will feature Liberty City; only Vice City has been showcased. Speculation suggests concern over potential impact on GTA 4 sales, though this is debatable as GTA 4 is aging and the mod still required ownership of GTA 5. Regardless of the reasoning, the mod is no longer available. One can only hope future projects from World Travel fare better, though Take-Two's approach to modding doesn't seem likely to change soon.