GTA 5 Liberty City Mod Discontinued

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 popularity in 2024 and has left many fans disappointed.

While some game developers embrace modding, others, like Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company), take a more aggressive stance. This isn't uncommon; Nintendo and Take-Two have a history of shutting down mods. Despite this, the modding community persists. The developers behind the "Liberty City Preservation Project," the modding team 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 continued passion for GTA modding.

Another Mod Falls Victim to Legal Pressure

Although World Travel hasn't explicitly confirmed coercion, many suspect the mod's closure resulted from legal pressure. The phrasing suggests a seemingly amicable conversation, but it's likely Rockstar Games warned against further public distribution, potentially citing a DMCA takedown. Given the volunteer nature of most modding teams and their lack of legal representation, such warnings often lead to immediate project termination.

The community's reaction has been overwhelmingly negative, with many criticizing Rockstar and Take-Two's aggressive approach to modding. This is particularly frustrating given the absence of Liberty City in the upcoming GTA 6, which currently focuses on Vice City. Concerns about impacting GTA 4 sales are speculated, but this argument is widely contested. GTA 4 is aging, and playing the mod still requires owning GTA 5. Regardless of the reasoning, the mod is inaccessible. The hope remains that World Travel's future projects will fare better, though Take-Two's stance on modding doesn't appear likely to change.