Summary
- A Grand Theft Auto 5 mod recreating Liberty City has been shut down following communication with Rockstar Games.
- Many believe the modders were compelled to cease development due to legal pressure.
- Despite this setback, the modding team, World Travel, remains dedicated to future GTA modding projects.
A highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 5 mod, allowing players to revisit Liberty City, has been discontinued. This comes after the mod's considerable popularity in 2024.
While some developers embrace modding, others take a stricter approach. Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company) are known for their aggressive stance against unauthorized modifications. Despite this, dedicated modders persist, and this team is no exception, expressing their continued passion for GTA modding.
The Liberty City Preservation Project, created by the modding group World Travel, was abruptly shut down. Their Discord announcement cited "unexpected attention" and subsequent discussions with Rockstar Games as the reason for the project's termination. While specifics remain undisclosed, the team confirmed their ongoing interest in GTA modding.
Another GTA Mod Meets its End
Although World Travel hasn't explicitly confirmed coercion, many suspect legal pressure from Rockstar Games prompted the shutdown. The phrasing suggests a seemingly amicable conversation, but it's likely the team received warnings about potential legal action, such as a DMCA takedown, if the mod remained publicly available. Given the volunteer nature of most modding projects and lack of legal representation, such warnings often lead to immediate project closures.
Fans are expressing their disappointment and criticizing Rockstar and Take-Two for their aggressive anti-modding stance on social media. This frustration is heightened by the absence of Liberty City in the currently announced GTA 6, which only features Vice City. Concerns about potential impact on GTA 4 sales are speculated, though this reasoning is widely contested, as playing the Liberty City Preservation Project still required owning GTA 5. Regardless of the rationale, the mod is no longer accessible. The hope remains that future projects from World Travel will fare better, though Take-Two's approach to modding seems unlikely to change.
