While efforts from Rockstar developers to offer consistent updates and DLCs for GTA Online no doubt lend to the longevity of Grand Theft Auto V, there's no doubt that a significant amount of players still fire up this 4-year-old game because of its incredible mod support. However, that all changed earlier this month, when parent company Take-Two Interactive sent a cease and desist letter to modding tool OpenIV.
No doubt, the end to mods in GTA 5 did not go well with the fans and they responded to Take-Two the only way they knew how—by airing their grievances over the internet. Over the past week, Grand Theft Auto 5 suffered a tsunami of negative reviews on Steam.
“This is what happens when you refuse to listen to your fans and let the money get to you,” one reviewer commented.
“I cannot recommend any game that attacks and spits on its community like Take-Two has with this recent assault on mods,” said another.
Appearing to have responded to the backlash, Take-Two Interactive apparently made a deal to allow OpenIV to return. After OpenIV was taken down on June 14, the mod tool finally returned this weekend with a small update, called build 907 of version 2.9, which will implement "bug fixes and small improvements."
Earlier this week, Rockstar announced Take-Two will reverse the decision to end all single-player mods, although OpenIV is still banned.
Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties. This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project. This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project.
Following this statement, it appears OpenIV developer Yuriy Krivoruchko may have implemented updates to the software that better protects itself from Rockstar's three conditions.
Via Motherboard, Krivoruchko stated he never designed OpenIV for this purpose and that he's not interested in GTA Online at all. However, Krivoruchko admits there were holes that make it possible for modders to use OpenIV to impact GTA Online.
