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 considerable popularity in 2024.
While some game developers embrace modding, others, such as Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company), take a stricter approach. This has led to numerous mod closures in the past. 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 discussions with Rockstar Games as the reason for removing the mod. While specifics remain undisclosed, the team affirmed their ongoing passion for GTA modding.
Another Casualty of Aggressive Mod Policies
Although World Travel hasn't explicitly confirmed coercion, many players suspect the mod's closure resulted from legal pressure. The phrasing suggests a seemingly amicable conversation, but it likely involved warnings of potential legal action, such as a DMCA takedown. Given the volunteer nature of most modding teams and their lack of legal representation, such contact often leads to immediate project termination.
Disappointment is widespread among fans. Many have criticized Rockstar and Take-Two on social media for their aggressive stance on modding. This frustration is amplified by the absence of Liberty City in the upcoming GTA 6, which currently features Vice City. Concerns about impacting GTA 4 sales are speculated, but this argument is widely contested, as GTA 4 is an older title, and playing the mod still requires ownership of GTA 5. Regardless of the reasoning, the mod is inaccessible. The hope remains that future projects from World Travel will fare better, although Take-Two's approach to modding doesn't appear likely to change.
