'GTA 5' Publisher Take-Two Backs Off Mod Tool Takedown After Fan Outrage
The controversial OpenIV modding tool for "Grand Theft Auto V" is back in business, as game publisher Take-Two caves in to popular demand from players who were furious because of the cease-and-desist request issued to the mod.
Players and fans of "Grand Theft Auto V" overwhelmed the Steam ratings for the game, hours after news came out that Take-Two issued a cease-and-desist order to the OpenIV group. The modding tool developers chose to shut down their operations.
The take-down order from Take-Two earned the ire of thousands of "Grand Theft Auto V" players, who took to the Steam game page to post negative reviews for the game. By the time that the company has backed out of the cease-and-desist order, an online petition already gathered more than 77,000 signatures, according to Ars Technica.
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As of Friday, June 23, the OpenIV mod tool is back online.
Take-Two's decision to take down the mod tool ran counter to Rockstar game's previous statement that single player mods will be given a pass by the developers of the game. This sudden change caught the ire of players and fans of the game.
Rockstar is currently working with Yuriy Krivoruchko, known to his followers as "Good-NDS," in ensuring that the updated version of the mod tool cannot be used in online play. The game developer, alongside their publisher Take-two, made a commitment to allow single-player mods for the game.
"Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games," Rockstar said in their message, as quoted by Rock Paper Shotgun.
"After discussions with Take-Two, 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," Rockstar added, giving their tacit permission for OpenIV to continue developing mods.
