Ever since the modding tool program for Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5), OPENIV, was banned after a cease-and-desist legal notice from Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive, things have been going from bad to worse. Now, Rockstar has sort of intervened, and Take-Two has agreed not to take action against single-player mods.
But the situation is far from being resolved. The latest update is as follows (emphasis ours):
Question: Are PC Single-Player Mods Allowed?
Answer: Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity, and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games. 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. This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project. This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project. Take-Two reserves the right to object to any third-party project, or to revise, revoke and/or withdraw this statement at any time in their own discretion. This statement does not constitute a waiver of any rights that Take-Two may have with respect to third-party projects.
That’s nothing more than legalese (lawyer-speak), and it doesn’t help matters any. Rockstar Games originally justified the move with this statement:
“Take-Two’s actions were not specifically targeting single player mods. Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody. We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players.”
And the latest statement from Rockstar about Take-Two’s decision simply says that legal action might not be taken 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.”
That statement doesn’t do much to assuage the ire of GTA 5 fans, who have already initiated a petition for OPENIV to be “left alone”. More than 77,000 GTA 5 fans have digitally signed the petition, so this is shaping up to be a massive movement.
On the positive side, Rockstar did confirm to Motherboard that it has spoken to OPENIV developer Yuriy “Good-NDS” Krivoruchko about letting it continue on GTA 5, but nothing concrete has come out of that discussion yet.
Let’s hope OPENIV will be allowed to continue. The wording in Take-Two’s statement doesn’t look like that will ever happen, and Rockstar could have a tough time walking the fine line between its parent company’s stand and the belligerence being shown by its huge following of GTA 5 fans.
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