Grand Theft Auto V mods for the PC are coming back as Take-Two Interactive has seemingly softened its stance on modding tools used for the massively popular open-world action game.
Players expressed outrage when the publisher shut down popular GTA 5 modding tool OpenIV earlier this month. It now appears that Take-Two Interactive is wise enough to listen to the demands of the community that has kept the 2013 title going strong.
Take-Two Takes Down OpenIV
OpenIV is a popular modding tool for the single-player mode of GTA 5. However, on June 5, the program's creators received a cease and desist letter from Take-Two, forcing them to shut down OpenIV.
As a reaction to the move, players bombarded GTA 5's Steam listing with thousands of negative reviews. More than 77,000 people also signed an online petition that demanded Take-Two to revoke the cease and desist letter and restore OpenIV.
Mods, short for modifications, alter the code of a game for various purposes. Mods can make small changes to make titles more playable, but they can also be complex enough to create entirely new experiences within the original game.
Take-Two's letter against OpenIV alleged that the tool defeats security features in place for GTA 5 and violates the publisher's rights over the game. The program, however, has been in use for almost 10 years, and is responsible for most of the mods that have been created for GTA 5 and its predecessor, GTA 4.
According to developer Rockstar Games, OpenIV enabled malicious mods that allowed the harassment of players, wrecking the GTA Online experience for players. Yuriy "Good-NDS" Krivoruchko, the creator of OpenIV, admitted that the tool was being used by some modders to cheat in GTA Online, which is not intended for the program.
GTA 5 Mods Are Back
OpenIV released a small update to take the tool to build 907 of version 2.9. It only adds bug fixes and small improvements, but the bigger news is that its creators released an update even after the cease and desist letter issued by Take-Two.
This is because the publisher, as noted in a post by Rockstar, has softened its stance against mods.
"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," the post said.
The decision to not take legal action, however, does not apply to mods for multiplayer or online services, such as GTA Online, tools that impact multiplayer and online services, and projects that utilize IP owned by Take-Two or Rockstar.
The renewed stance of Take-Two does not allow for all kinds of third-party projects in GTA 5, with the publisher reserving the right to pursue and shut down mods that it feels violate its rights. However, this is much better news for the modding community and GTA 5 players on the PC, compared to having no mods at all.
Take-Two also reserved the right to withdraw its new statement on mods, but it will likely not do that unless it wants even more backlash from loyal GTA 5 players.
