GTA V modding is dead, long live GTA V modding. This news comes from a post on gtaforums.com by GooD-NTS, the lead developer on the OpenIV modding tool.
Rockstar and publisher Take-Two have always had a rocky relationship with modders. Ever since GTA V released on PC, modding was shut down, opened back up and shut down again over and over. After a few months, it seemed that Take-Two had begrudgingly accepted mods, so long as they didn’t impact GTA Online at all.
It also should be noted that the only way to mod GTA V is by using the OpenIV modding tool. This tool was developed to Rockstar’s demands, as GooD-NTS mentions. This means OpenIV strictly followed the Civil Code of Russia – it didn’t distribute original data and code, only used clean-room reverse engineering and didn’t mess with GTA Online.
All that changed on June 5. According to the Cease and Desist letter GooD-NTS received, Take-Two was accusing OpenIV of "allow[ing] third parties to defeat security features of its software and modify that software in violation Take-Two's rights." This apparently means that OpenIV is now an illegal program, and distribution must be ended immediately.
While the OpenIV team feels that Take-Two could be taken to court and modding could be proven legal under fair use, ultimately the decision to comply with the Cease and Desist was reached. “It was a hard decision, but when any modding activity has been declared illegal, we can’t see any possibilities to continue this process, unless top management of Take-Two company makes an official statement about modding, which can be used in court,” GooD-NTS wrote.
If you already have OpenIV on your computer, it should still work to mod your game, but it could potentially get you in trouble. Gtaforums.com users have already started sharing pictures from the OpenIV program stating it is recommended to uninstall the program “to avoid possible legal issues.”
If you would like to voice your support against this decision, a Change.org petition has already been created.
So what do you think? Are you mad at Take-Two and Rockstar for this decision? Do you think people should be able to mod games or should they not be given the opportunity? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
