Publisher Take-Two Interactive has ordered the shutdown of Red Dead Redemption V, the fan project that was looking to recreate Red Dead Redemption within Grand Theft Auto V.
The high-profile mod grew in popularity ever since it was announced last month. However, the project has now come to an abrupt end after the modding team known as .White canceled it after they were contacted.
What We Knew About 'Red Dead Redemption V'
Red Dead Redemption V looked to bring the map of Red Dead Redemption, based on the game's Xbox 360 version, into GTA 5. A beta for the project was supposed to be released this summer.
.White planned the project as a single-player mod, seeking help from the GTA 5 community with Red Dead Redemption V's scripting and programming.
'Red Dead Redemption V' Shutdown
"I know this is hard pill to swallow, but as you may have noticed we did get contacted, and we sadly have to say we are stopping this project," said Mr. Leisurewear, one of the members of the Red Dead Redemption V team.
"So thanks guys, we were all so happy to see this, but it isn't going to happen, sorry," he added.
Mr. Leisurewear did not initially reveal who contacted .White but later confirmed that it was publisher Take-Two and not developer Rockstar Games.
Through succeeding posts on the GTA Forums, Mr. Leisurewear clarified that Red Dead Redemption V was never going to be a full port of Red Dead Redemption into the PC. Only the map will be brought from Red Dead Redemption into GTA 5, as it would not have been possible to also transfer all other content.
"There was never any intention or mention to either port a story mode over from RDR to V," he noted, adding that the modding team was only looking to convert the map using legal copies of the two games but with custom content to make the project work.
Other users in the GTA Forums asked what the team would be doing with the files that they have created so far, to which Mr. Leisurewear said that he would not delete them and throw away three years' worth of work. This does not mean that there is still a chance that Red Dead Redemption will still make its way into GTA 5, though.
When users requested the .White toolkit to help improve the modding scene of GTA 5, Mr. Leisurewear said that he was ordered not to release anything, as doing so might lead to a lawsuit.
Take-Two Cracks Down On Mod As 'Red Dead Redemption 2' Draws Near
The decision by Take-Two to order the takedown of Red Dead Redemption V could be related to the pending release of Red Dead Redemption 2. The second game in the franchise is said to be heading to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in October and is tagged as one of the titles that will showcase the powerful performance of the upcoming Xbox Project Scorpio.
The cancelation of Red Dead Redemption V, however, is bad news for PC gamers who may have been looking to catch a glimpse of the franchise on the PC. The mod, however, is far from being the only GTA 5 ordered to be taken down.
