Rockstar is a hypocrite (& I have proof)

You won't believe what Rockstar used to allow...
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Rockstar has taken down so many mods over the past few years, with the most recent victims being Grand Theft Auto Vice City Nextgen Edition, and The Liberty City Preservation Project. A decade ago though, Rockstar were promoting mods (even promoting map conversion mods) and were very active with their community; this is unfortunately not the case anymore.
#gta #gtav #gta5

[@jadeskywalker06]

It is actually crazy to see them in the past promoting what they now eliminate.

[@Ayymoss]

Separate internal processes. Priorities change. Nothing is out of the ordinary, I certainly do not see how this is 'crazy.'

[@Kaledrone]

​@@AyymossBlud speaking like an AI chatbot

[@oui2611]

and how people are quick to forget and if they keep this up everyone would only know Rockstar as a bad company

[@NikoBellic-pv6gf]

​​@@oui2611 Take 2 is the one that take down mods they force Rockstar Games to take them down too.

[@Ayymoss]

@Kaledrone Grammar? Is that what you're afraid of?

[@nikobelic25000]

I’ve got a strong feeling that some of Rockstar’s recent decisions-especially when it comes to shutting things down-are largely influenced by the backlash GTA Online has faced over its monetization practices. One of the biggest examples of this was when Rockstar quietly disabled the comment section on the Rockstar Newswire. This didn’t happen randomly-it was a calculated move, likely pushed by Take-Two Interactive. For a long time, the Newswire was a space dominated by hardcore Rockstar fans, many of whom had been following the company for years. But as GTA V exploded in popularity, the fanbase grew, and with it, the number of people calling out Rockstar for prioritizing profits over player experience. Once the criticism reached a tipping point-especially regarding the excessive monetization of GTA Online-it seems Rockstar decided the best way to handle the backlash was to silence it altogether. Instead of addressing concerns, they just removed the ability for fans to voice their frustrations in one of the most public places they had access to. Another major reason Rockstar has become increasingly hostile toward the modding scene is because they don’t want modern audiences digging into their past and realizing what they were best known for-groundbreaking, story-driven single-player games. If newer players, especially younger ones, started exploring Rockstar’s older catalog, they’d see that this was the company that created GTA San Andreas,The Warriors, Smugglers run, Midnight Club, Bully, Red Dead Redemption, and Max Payne-titles that defined gaming with their immersive single-player campaigns. Instead, Rockstar wants to keep the focus locked on GTA Online, ensuring that players remain engaged with their monetized ecosystem rather than looking back at what made the company legendary in the first place. Modding also poses a direct threat to their business model. Take the recent Vice City Rage mod, for example. This fan project showcased a stunning remake of Vice City using GTA V’s engine, making Rockstar’s own GTA Trilogy: The Definitive Edition look like a joke in comparison. Instead of embracing the talent of the modding community, Rockstar and Take-Two would rather shut down these projects to eliminate any competition. They don’t want players to see what passionate developers can accomplish for free-especially when their own official remasters and re-releases pale in comparison. That kind of exposure highlights how much Take-Two is willing to cut corners just to maximize profits. If that doesn’t scream greed, I don’t know what does. And if anyone still had doubts about Rockstar’s priorities, just look at what happened to Red Dead Online. Despite the game having a dedicated fanbase and enormous potential, Rockstar abandoned it simply because it wasn’t pulling in GTA Online-level profits. They didn’t care about growing the game, introducing new content, or listening to its community-they only cared about the revenue it brought in. And since it wasn’t making them billions, they decided it wasn’t worth their time. That alone proves they don’t care about content; they care about profit, and if something isn’t meeting their ridiculous revenue expectations, they’ll kill it without hesitation. One of the biggest problems with all of this is the people running Take-Two. Strauss Zelnick isn’t a gamer-he’s a businessman. That’s a huge issue because when the people in charge only see dollar signs, they make decisions that prioritize short-term profits over what really matters: quality, innovation, and respecting the player base. Take-Two’s board isn’t filled with passionate game developers or people who care about gaming as an art form; it’s made up of executives who only see the gaming industry as another way to squeeze out as much money as possible. They don’t care about the legacy of Rockstar, the creative vision of their developers, or what longtime fans actually want. All they see is the bottom line. What makes this even more frustrating is how little the Rockstar community actually does about it. Fans will complain endlessly about Rockstar’s greed, their lack of respect for single-player content, their botched remasters, and their refusal to listen to feedback. But the second Rockstar throws out a shiny distraction-like a GTA Trilogy remaster or a new GTA VI trailer-suddenly all is forgiven. It’s an endless cycle of outrage followed by blind hype, and I’m honestly getting tired of seeing fans give Rockstar win after win. At this point, they know they can get away with anything because the fanbase always comes crawling back the moment they drop something new. Rockstar used to be a company that cared about innovation, storytelling, and pushing the industry forward. Now, they’re just another corporation looking to squeeze every dollar they can from their audience, and as long as we keep rewarding them for it, nothing is going to change.

[@BGHqan]

Damn homie real spit. You should be the on making the video lol.

[@ultimatecontagion]

And the award of the comment section today goes to...

[@Ayymoss]

What are paragraphs...

[@SalvationCode]

Second point makes no sense. As of RDR 2, which was their last major game before VI, Rockstar is *still* making groundbreaking SP games. People wouldn't have to "dig" very far to find that. Their history as a primarily singleplayer masterpiece studio is hardly a forgotten secret. What they're way more likely to be doing is this; the excellent SP experience is the "gateway drug" into the Online portion of their titles. That's how it was for GTA V, and that's how it was *supposed* to be for RDO, but RDR 2 as a game is simply much slower and turned out to be harder to consistently monetize, so they dropped RDO almost immediately. They're clearly not willing to blindly commit to Online modes that aren't bringing in the money, and they've abandoned SP expansions & DLC entirely which is the absolute worst thing to come out of GTAO's insufferable success. The truth is that they're still very much capable of creating incredible SP games, but they're also just as interested in making those games foundations for Online modes that they can endlessly print money with. Anything that gets in the way of that, modders included, is bound to get swept away. It's fucking awful, and a far cry from what the company used to be.

[@blakegriplingph]

Fisk Johnson of SC Johnson pretty much said the same sentiments in a news interview some years ago. He lamented at how dysfunctional corpos run particularly with their focus on short-term cash grabs than seeing the bigger long-term picture.

[@Bahraini_Carguy]

Rockstar Games & Nintendo should just have a duel for the title of DMCA/lawsuit-issuing championship.

[@LighthouseCape]

I'm not even sure why you brought in Nintendo to this mess. Yeah, they might be a biiiit too trigger-happy when it comes to lawsuit, but at least, they don't milk the same game for over a decade, communicates and tries to make their player-base happy, and doesn't go nuts when they find out cool mods...

[@unoriginalperson72]

the Scum-off

[@SoulbentAnime]

​@LighthouseCape this is a whataboutism. It's brought up because Nintendo is far more litigious than rockstar is so it's an apt comparison.

[@ibisskb]

Rockstar Games would win with a very clear advantage. While they are both trigger-happy, yes, at the same time Nintendo owns a lot of IPs easily as popular as GTA, and yet it's hard to see something as gruesome as what happened in 2021. And for fuck's sake, I've never heard of Nintendo filing a lawsuit on a modding tool, ever. As much as I hate them for throwing a C&D to Pokémon Prism, Rockstar not only sues more when they have less to care about, but also hits where it hits the worst.

[@SoulbentAnime]

@@ibisskb nintendo sued a modder for the better camera angles in splatoon 3, dmcas for channels with soundtracks and disaster for covers of songs. Absolutely ridiculous

[@dusterpl6093]

Rockstar we used to love is long gone. That's why I don't feel like supporting their games anymore. Wish more people thought this way.

[@Edgical]

Like yea i get what you mean but it's totally unfair to ask the average gaming joe to not buy a new R* game as they've proved again and again they make a superb product that revolutionizes a genre. Despite outdated mission guidance or their legal team cracking down on big mods R* is still in the business of profit, which will inevitably lead to a break in their "can do no wrong" persona everyone gives them. Nobody put them on a pedestal but us

[@Ad1tputra]

How are you gonna convince most gamers tho? Like we're talking about Rockstar games here, they've made one of the biggest video game franchise ever that has impacted the gaming industry and the entire world. Literally most people even non gamers have some knowledge about GTA. Besides even if most hardcore GTA fans not buying the game. Rockstar probably doesn't care since most people will still buy it regardless of many fans claiming the game is bad or not great. That's how much power Rockstar has. That first GTA 6 trailer pretty much convinced everyone.

[@Yakoaxxi]

you're an idiot

[@Josh_728]

Plebs gonna pleb. Gamers are a tiny minority among people who play/buy games.

[@RonsaRRR]

@@Josh_728 Gamers play in games. Not feminists, not minorities - gamers.

[@SlurpyPie]

I feel bad for the modders and even the devs at the company who probably thought these mods were dope only for the higher ups just to ruin it by getting the creators to take the mods down (granted they at least had the common decency to at least ask the liberty city modders before just jumping to their "lets sue them!" angle but still that's like 6 years of the modders' work down the drain). No joke if I was a CEO or some higher up at a gaming company, I would want to prevent this type of thing happening. Honestly this was such a slap in the face for fans tbh.

[@greedgod5827]

Gaming companies are no longer run by people that at least have a similar shared passion as those on the ground floor creating it all. It's been infiltrated by these same corporate pieces of shit that bring a plague of creativity vanquishing in the name of increased profits.

[@Nasrul260]

The Rockstar we once loved, died in 2018. The Rockstar we see today is not only corporate, but a greedy contrast from what they used to be. *_They've became what they made fun of._*

[@blakegriplingph]

Pretty much sadly. Now the satire is lost in them.

[@mizuko6132]

Died when the release of the GTA online trailer came out. Nail on the coffin.

[@lovepreetgames]

I already knew Rockstar used to do QnA’s with fans and community streams and had more communication but I didn’t know they actually promoted them like that, Yeardydiamonds (RIP) mods used to be put up there but Zombie Mods and Map ports? Thats insane, such a different Rockstar we have today

[@amazanta1605]

It makes me low-key worried for six I feel like rockstar are gonna monopolise the mod market even though im not on pc it’ll prob effect the game in general

[@unoriginalperson72]

Bethesda style creation club

[@amazanta1605]

@@unoriginalperson72it seems like it especially with them acquiring five m

[@Hoxistedious]

It's just happening due to change in leadership, we forget that corporations are just a group of few people (at the top) managing them.

[@xyl9l]

i think it's because the perception of the word "mod" and "modder" in gta community changed from the cool enthusiast who improves their game or customizes it to a synonym for cheater in gta o, someone toxic who hacks the game and makes the experience worse for everybody + perspectively makes rockstar make less money by cheating it instead of paying for shark cards

[@CaptainGlack]

That’s a good point. Could be one of the reasons why they’re like this now!

[@TechDiffuse]

I think it's because the OG creators are gone, just that simple.

[@MeadeJ67]

No, those are known as hackers & cheaters, not modders... That shouldn't be confusing to anyone.

[@xyl9l]

@MeadeJ67 that's the problem, we know that, but most of the kids now call cheaters modders, because they use mod menu for cheats 🤷‍♂️

[@chibisayori20]

@@xyl9l last time i checked, modding is a grey area and isn't far from reverse engineering, which cheating also belongs to but modding isn't cheating, that's for sure since you can adjust enemy AI for example to make it harder for yourself on SP/Coop games, or make it extremely easy downright dumb the AI down if you want to cheat I think i prefer to call the former overhauling, while the latter as "exploiting" since otherwise those two kinda get confusing Also pretty sure R* and Take 2 takes down these mods due to IP infringement

[@moonlightillari]

I vividly remember when that Zombie Invasion mod got posted because being 12 at the time, it was the first time I had seen devs post about mods themselves and it got me so excited to download more mods for games. It's very sad that experience can't happen anymore for younger gamers. Modding is incredible, and I wish the corporate section of the industry had less control in battering efforts to do so :(

[@LUAN_JAGUAR]

Rockstar Games also used to make masterpiece games and keep them yearly (from 2001 to 2009, almost every year there was a new GTA game or update) now they keep milking the same game for 12 years and they only made a terrible remaster port of old games

[@giacomobucciarelli7143]

Man people with this take are braindead. Rockstar Games is currently making GTA 6, they have a tiny team pushing out shit for GTAO and RDO but they are fucking making GTA 6 whats hard to understand they aren’t milking shit they are working. They didn’t make the remaster port that was Grove Street Games 🙄

[@Dwight.DEisenHower]

Ah, rockstar had and always will still have a shitty relationship with porting their older games into newer consoles. The XBOX 360 port for GTA San Andreas will remain as the worst grand theft auto port I have ever tried, even worse than the Defintive edition (which isnt a high bar now as a handful of its issues have been fixed)

[@Hoxistedious]

Tbh, id rather have one gta in every 10 year than every other or even 2 years. I look at assassin creed, and I don't want GTA to become that shitshow.

[@garyfreeman896]

​@@HoxistediousSign of the times nowadays. People want low quality fast food everything. People also don't seem to understand how much more development goes into something like RDR2 compared to San Andreas.

[@Hoxistedious]

@garyfreeman896 exactly, I'm so sad to see games like cod ruined by coporate greed.

[@miketyson4153]

All old developers quit the company so nowdays all new kids handle Rockstagames

[@chibisayori20]

shit i think RDR2 truly was Dan Houser just telling us something

[@Ad1tputra]

Sorry if I'm wrong or misremembered things but i remember one Ex Rockstar employee says that 80% of the employees/devs at Rockstar are still the original Rockstar. The Rockstar that we all know and love But there were definitely some Rockstar employees who left Rockstar. Either got fired or their own choice. Like Dan Houser for example. Idk why so many companies do this? Are they doing it to save money or something? It's very strange. Laying off your experience employees

[@Tmanstomp100]

Leslie Benzie's and Dan Hauser must have been the ones holding the company together, I seen this happen to MoJang when notch left. they just aren't the same team anymore and it shows, you can't just push away your OG creators and expect things to go smoothly.

[@Totavier]

That's actually the main problem with the gaming companies of nowdays, normally when the "main heads" of the company which pretty much are the founders or a first-day employer leave the company, it always go downhill since the newcomers probably will not be the same or share the same passion, vision, creativity, etc... Happened like you said with Rockstar with Hauser and Benzie or MoJang with Notch, but it also happened with Nintendo with Reggie and Satoru Iwata, Rareware with the Stamper brothers or Sony and Microsoft with their constant CEO changes.

[@NkosanaMakhubele]

😂😂😂😂

[@Tmanstomp100]

@ I just really hope rockstar recovers and starts back being the company we all know and love, cuz this banding against the modders thing sucks for the fans, I mean it's not like somebody will actually play a mod over an official rockstar product, I could understand with the vice city rage engine mod cuz it was the full game with story and all but all the others it just made no sense to me. and I grew up playing with san andreas mods.

[@Aureus_]

Crazy how Rockstar is insecure that single modders are putting out better shit than them, like firing hire them or at least praise them!

[@Aureus_]

*fricking

[@ethanreed8400]

GTA online ruined them

[@SoAaron_]

I would title this "Rockstar are hypocrites" as they are a company, not a single person.

[@SiegbertSchnöselll]

Well I don't even think its Rockstars fault, its more likely that TakeTwo is just pulling the strings behind them maybe they actually still want to accurage mods but just get silenced from TakeTwo

[@CaptainGlack]

That may well be the case tbf

[@theemptyprod.1360]

Take-Two just shut Rockstar's mouth

[@Verchiel_]

I feel at this point you might as well consider Rockstar a T2 subdivision that's lost the vast majority of what used to be Rockstar. Rockstar hasn't ever been particularly warm towards their community but i feel at some point they would have stood up against shareholder's drastic decisions like smearing their reputation month by month.

[@xandercogan5521]

this is true and sadly it's most likely true

[@unoriginalperson72]

I mean we all know Strauss Nutszakk hates PC and Modding with a burning ire.

[@Thomas_Angelo]

It all ended with hot coffee. Sam Houser wanted hot coffee to exist, but when all the politics got involved, they changed and they really changed...

[@StarwayBunny]

What?

[@Thomas_Angelo]

@StarwayBunny check the stories. Sam Houser was upset that they had to censor the cj sex minigame. So when he found out that someone modded the game to bring that minigame back, he didn't stop the mod. And then Hillary Clinton started fucking everything up.

[@Jarryy]

Did you not watch the video? All these examples in this video are after hot coffee as stated in the video

[@Thomas_Angelo]

@Jarryy the court case for the mod took to 2009. Gta IV was started development since 2006.

[@LilBodegaa]

Well rockstar in fact changed so much that their most important people left the company. And all the new ones working on GTA 6 were literally kindergarten kids when GTA IV dropped

[@ClassicLaraCroft]

GTA is not GTA anymore. The old R* team never would have done this to us, the GTA community. It's unbelievable how many GTA fans are ignoring GTA 6 after the whole world used to JUMP on the latest GTA game.

[@Verchiel_]

I think the most obvious and most frustrating part of this whole ordeal Is that rockstar still makes absolute banger singleplayer games, even if that's only once or twice a decade now. That's all that majority of people will care about, so those countless issues of shoddy game design, anti-consumer practices, fan content takedowns, making every bit of cash they can, neglecting their legacy or worse, bastardizing it. RDO's neglect, GTAO's greedy/grindy gameplay loop, mod takedowns, defective edition. All those are fairly well and extensively documented, but rockstar and more so GTA is so absurdly well known worldwide, that a handful of people willing to learn and take some action against rockstar is negligible. Certainly a defeatist outlook but i'm not sure it can really be seen another way.

[@Killersnake432]

I remember those days I also remember they also tried the SA map mod for IV but did agree it was pretty buggy back in those days when it was still being worked on. Since they used to play with the IV PC community online when it was pretty active same with Max Payne 3 too.

[@chanople]

I remember that the first rockstar vs mods was after the whole hot coffee controversy, then with gta4 they took it a little bit easier but with the truck loads of money gta online made for them any sort of mod screw their enterprise cause they couldn't monetize it. Thats why I believe they are after mods and modders its all about money.

[@Spoggi99YT]

Great video as always and thanks for providing these detailed analyses of past newswire posts - must‘ve been a lot of work!

[@TayMcKenzieNZ]

Every month, Cfxre would inform the community of whats new, updated, worked on, in progress and what to look forward to; once they signed with Rockstar, these community pulse updates died out and a lot of shit went on behind the scenes with many jumping ship to AltV.

[@MaryHarper-x6r]

They hate what makes them popular! Its popularity brings attention and brings money 💰

[@ComradeArchen]

Funniest thing about Rockstar Games literally pissing on their community is that many will still defend them and justify their actions.

[@Bennyac11]

Great video. Do you know when the next livestream will be?

[@CaptainGlack]

Planning to stream again tomorrow! Hope you can stop by!

[@lmao8353]

I would say 2017 was the year when Take 2 decided to kill modding communities It was a year where they tried to take down the most important tool for RAGE engine modding OpenIV

[@CaptainGlack]

Oh yes, that’s right! I forgot about the OpenIV nonsense.

[@TurboLight]

​@@CaptainGlackTakeTwo even took down Red Dead Redemption V (RDR map port in GTAV) back in 2017, because of RDR2.

[@mazda9624]

Rockstar seemed to really take a turn for the worse around the time that the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of GTA Online stopped receiving new updates (summer of 2015). There's no correlation between the two, but that's around the time I noticed them start shifting towards only pleasing the shareholders and no one else.

[@oui2611]

i remember this Rockstar. not many people remember. back when Rockstar social club thing was pretty new

[@ArmanOssiLoko]

This video needs to become trending asap.

[@henriquetriaca245]

the thing is, that once GTA 6 is out, people will forget all their shanenigans

[@Yilmaz4]

exactly, people like to be pessimistic, they like lowering their expectations because it makes them less prone to disappointment, but all of this is pointless, gta 6 is gonna be even better than rdr2

[@crisfrey2753]

Thank you so much for this video!! I knew I wasn't crazy cause I was sure I had seen them being okay at least once with mods lol. It's heartbreaking that Rockstar is anti mods now since mods are my favorite hobby.

[@johngurwitz5203]

You know what else changed? The fanbase. We are terminally online and have become more entitled than ever. I’m not saying to glaze any company. You should know your worth as a customer. But let me know which game has come to RDR2’s level of detail? That game came out in 2018. You can call gta v trash and say the driving is arcadey. Which open world game actually has that level of detail when you damage your car and the way it feels driving? Just Cause, Watch Dogs, Sleeping Dogs, etc. None of them come close. And it takes much longer to create these games. WTF ya’ll want. GTA 3, vice city and San Andreas are the same exact game. You want these games to come out sooner but it’ll feel like a copy with a new map.

[@xPaulxDx99]

Rockstar made too much money, take two stepped in and turned rockstar into 2k

[@blakegriplingph]

Not only that, but they also mentioned that they licensed a modding tool for the original GTA called GTACars when they developed the London expansions. And seeing T2 piss on even the original series creator for divulging design docs shows how ruthlessly corporate they have become. 😡

[@itsskully4390]

We also cannot forget the fact that before, they attempted to shut down FiveM in 2015 and OpenIV in 2017, but they turned back on their decision. The OpenIV team ALSO had a Liberty City project, which didn't survive after Rockstar and T2 discussed letting their software come back. FiveM was allowed to be continued, and they worked on the project as "FiveReborn" for a while until returning to the "FiveM" name. PLUS, shortly after acquiring FiveM (while seemingly everybody over on birdapp was getting excited except for me), they turn around not even a week later and shut down another mod called "Inworld Sentient Streets", aka the AI Powered Story Mode mod, and barely anybody bats an eye. This video found its way to me and I hope it finds its way to others. Thank you. I was hoping at least someone on here would talk about Rockstar's hypocrisy. It seems an overwhelming majority of people are either new to this community and are oblivious to these facts or people just outright don't care. This is no different to the CoD community except it seems more people are waking up over there now.

[@FTWFlamez]

Trevor... It's business. It's business, fella - Elwood O'Neil

[@xman40100]

They even made an article mourning the death of Yeardley Diamond, a machinima maker that used mods a lot in GTA IV. It sucks that they are like this now.

[@akirlsaset2011]

We have to keep in mind that the heart and soul of rockstar games is long gone (leslie, Dan and Lazlow) so this is a different company now. Although Sam is still at Rockstar, he never was one of the important ones... the company we once knew and loved is dead. It's the sad reality. Great video though ❤

[@nothingtoseehere449]

"he never was one of the important ones." is a blatant lie Sam is one of the most important people at rockstar he's the reason GTA is the why it is(funny enough hot coffee controversy proved this) and has been there since the very beginning there is a reason why he's listed as the executive producer in every GTA game. From choosing songs on the radio to the direction hes been the one pick it and the team has been building off of it.this doomer mindset people have is weak

[@akirlsaset2011]

You are right but Rockstar humor was what it was thanks to them. I hope he can maintain the same feeling but as we can already see, rockstar is not the same (mostly thanks to T2)

[@nothingtoseehere449]

@@akirlsaset2011 most of the writers for gta 6 have written for other GTA games and you do know Dan wrote with a team and not by himself right?

[@akirlsaset2011]

@@nothingtoseehere449 Guess will just have to wait and see. I don't think their departure will come unnoticed storywise. That's for sure.

[@johngurwitz5203]

@@akirlsaset2011 do you think a story gets written right before the game releases? Dan Houser was still with the company when this was created. It could be possible that the script has been changed and rewritten since then. We’ll wait and see. Also, people are crying that Rockstar is liberal and woke. You do realize that even Dan himself said he wouldn’t want to release a gta when Trump is president? Seems like people ignore he’s a liberal as well

[@prebenjaeger]

It's all about money, greed and a certain tribe

[@datingwiafusexclubdatingwiDOKI]

In the words of Dutch, probably yeah this land eat no such thing as a civilized place so that he has only found appetite so in love with green rockstar

[@Tchubbo8668]

The minds behind Rockstar are already gone, unfortunately it looks like every decision is being made by Take-Two

[@madhunter6420]

just money and greed

[@KemonoGamer75]

Yes exactly! Rockstar back then used to care about community and showcasing mods. I even remember they used to tribute a modder who passed away his name was Yeardley Diamond... you can still look it up in the Rockstar Newswire.

[@FrogManYT24]

do you think this will ever change?

[@CaptainGlack]

I really hope it can, but I don’t think they see much of a point in allowing them.

[@TheHardcoreGamer1]

It unfortunately won’t unless the gta fans that kiss r* and take-two’s ass stop doing so.

[@johni-m8944]

Man I wish the liberty city mod was being worked on still. This new rockstar blows

[@MaciejSkywalker]

Also if i remember right, if you go watch movies in GTA 5 one of them has Liberty City that looks like it's GTA 4 with ENB graphics mod installed (Icenhancer)

[@TurboLight]

Rockstar back then used to only showcase single player mods which weren't really hurting TakeTwo's profits. After all the map conversion weren't full playable remakes of their games. However in 2017, what it wasn't covered in the video, it's that TakeTwo gone after Red Dead Redemption V, a map port of RDR in GTAV. Why it was taken down? Because of a new game that was releasing, RDR2. Even Rockstar had made a statement that TakeTwo it's not against single player mods, but it looks like they indeed are when it comes to the ones that "hurt" TakeTwo's profits, such as Vice City Nextgen which for them threatens The Definitive Edition sales. I'm sure TakeTwo would had taken down Vice City RAGE in early 2010s if it was a full conversion of GTA Vice City's story.

[@Rihcterwilker]

The people ahead of the company back then have left. The ones that are in control right now are not as talented and well-intentioned as the old guys.

[@Jared_Wignall]

Rockstar used to be really cool. It’s sad how things have turned out over the years.

[@durandmefew]

They dont want to fall for the same problem Minecraft did. Mod projects got bigger, better and more expansive as the wave of people that grew up on games started understanding their inner workings. To the point that they start making better content than the original and well, Rockstar doesnt want that. They want you to settle for the bar they set but nothing more.

[@TommyLikeTom]

Watching people play GTAiv always makes me want to play. What an amazing game

[@Chris-zc7xj]

Glad the nextgen edition of GTA Vice City in GTA 4's engine got released after Take-Two tried taking it down, they basically said "f*** that" and released the entire game with the mod completely free and didn't care about the issue. Biggest middle finger to the Take-Two and Rockstar.

[@CrowleyBlack2]

Might be because the same people who used to work there are no longer there now. Meaning the managers who control support tickets or social media accounts. Maybe it's rather the new managers or it's Take-Two who doing this. We don't know.

[@sandroomiguel17]

Tbh I believe it definitely had something to do with the Benzies/Houser drama. Not necessarily them, but the overall vibe is everything changes a lot every time someone leaves

[@vv09]

I really want to believe it's take two making rockstar do these decisions and not actually rockstar themselves. they have to do it or shit happens.

[@kowaletzki]

We as a community should just buy out Take2

[@delt2090]

It's not the rockstar devs that hate the mods, it's the corporate / publisher who hates it which is take two, shitting on rockstar for it is kinda stupid 😕

[@purpleskyneon3106]

sucks, even most of the og dev that work since forever quit, i have no faith in rockstar anymore if they just chasing profit and market share, just pirate all their catalog dont drop a single dollar on them

[@HeySlickThatsMe]

You forgot to say that they took down FiveM back in the day

[@PantlessMachine]

& OpenIV.

[@KemonoGamer75]

They almost shutdown FiveM and OpenIV. Yes i remember the OpenIV backlash and anger.

[@ChipsChallenge95]

Rockstar literally is not Rockstar anymore. None of the original staff is there. Just venture capital DEI hires and money hungry executives in small hats

[@latbat58]

vice city nextgen is a clear competitor to vice city definitive edition thou. plus it is free. so yeah

[@ArmanOssiLoko]

Wouldn't have been free (it initially required you to own a legal copy of GTA4) if Rockstar wasn't doing the trash actions that they do.

[@ultimatecontagion]

Well it shouldn't be not anymore. Game came out nearly 4 years ago.

[@CaptainGlack]

True, but I don’t think anyone is playing Vice City for the first time using Nextgen Edition.

[@commanderproton7763]

@@CaptainGlack I know exactly ONE person who used it for their first time playing Vice City and kinda had a rather bad experience with it. So I don't doubt there are people doing that, but it seems to be a minority.

[@seesikopter]

full intro back here we goooo

[@Courier_333]

This is a great video. I've heard people claim that rockstar took a hard anti-modding stance after hot coffee. I didn't know they supported this many mods as recently as 2017

[@ultimatecontagion]

Same here, this was a surprise to me about the 2017 part. That was also the same year that Take The Piss Interactive decided to temporarily shut down OpenIV. The only reason why it's still up now is because of severe backlash from the community. Maybe if enough people on the Internet do the same thing again, R* and Take-Two will back the fuck off.

[@DaRealBruner]

It's Take-Two, not Rockstar.

[@Dwight.DEisenHower]

I think its quite odd to fight a losing war against the modding community. as they were and still are the main culprit that is preventing Grand Theft Auto titles from falling into the darkness, maybe Sam H. could be smarter than this, and perhaps its just Take2 being the greedy capitalist holding company that they are. Why beat them when you can join them? Its a great opportunity to expand their workforce with much talented people out there.

[@rokcris7313]

i don't think you need proof tho

[@garyfreeman896]

If we have all these people who are talented and full of ideas why do they not just develop brand new games?

[@QuiverCraft]

Well, shit I could’ve told you that! Just kidding good video boss

[@9gsJota]

I like to think that Take-Two is the problem. R* is the artist, T2 is the owner of a work of art that he would sell to the highest bidder. The best thing R* could do is cut ties asap. Dream about the impossible?

[@BrainstormJr]

T2 shouldn't be rewarded for any of this

[@DanLouAnn-gw6ic]

It's simple, they're waiting for their last older audience to not care and move on, so their inevitable new young audience will node right in with the new tightened GTAO marketing for gta6O. I've gotten deeper into my endeavors, I couldn't imangine putting hours into a game anymore and it saddens me to know I'm at the point of videos and my consoles have become youtube boxes for a background noise. I'm pretty sure I'm at the point right now where my consoles just stick around for GTA6.

[@evankim2406]

Pretty good video.

[@CaptainGlack]

Pretty good comment!

[@OGGrinskin]

what GTA IV graphics mod are you running it looks really clean!

[@Ivan-M]

Interesting, you damn new Rockstar, busta straight busta

[@KiyoCabessa]

Remenber the old R* , is not anymore. They left the company in 2020. Only the name remains not the people. Its the same that Bioware, Obsidian and others. Watch out with gta 6.

[@kenyattaleefrazierIII]

rockstar is the carti of game developers

[@voodoo2006]

i dont know which would be worse, shutting down mods or making them paid (bethesda)

[@ROCKSTARMANIC12]

The new leads at the company have almost nothing to do with the old guard of the legacy titles. I don’t understand why Garbut or sarwar or even rob defend us. They were very young when they came in back in 2004 and so on. Now Rockstsr is a woke infested company. Since the break down of crunch and the frat culture. It’s dead.

[@greedgod5827]

The liberty city mod was going to get taken down either way if not by rockstar then the music industry vultures and rockstar probably wanted to beat them to it and minimize harm to their brand this year when it does matter because people are fickle and only remember recent things

[@mustafaaydilek5142]

don't need that much of a proof.

[@nabinp]

its not rockstar. its take 2 who hates mods

[@KemonoGamer75]

This^

[@ParagonGorilla]

i think its take two squeezing everything they can outta the IP that is GTA.

[@rollschuh2282]

i think it´s just T2 that majorly does that back then in 2017 when they took down OpenIV there was such a backlash and then Rockstar stepped in and told T2 to back off and then OpenIV came back was i think after when R* released those modding Terms and conditions and such not saying R* is entirely innocent just saying that i think T2 does a lot of that stuff on their own without telling R*

[@FlymanMS]

They were the chosen one!

[@InfinityGx]

Did you mention that they actually paid 10.000$ to a modder for improving GTA Online loading times? 🤷‍♂ (I'm asking because i didn't watch all the video for now)

[@RayNorbus]

Rockstar probably wants to take down Mods because they’re afraid that when Grand Theft Auto VI comes out, players won’t be satisfied and say “this mod pack from GTA V or GTA Vice City is better than GTA VI.” I kinda like the fact they take down mods.

[@TurboLight]

Not the case I would say. Vice City Nextgen Edition for TakeTwo it's considered a competition for The Definitive Edition of the Trilogy. RDR V back in 2017 was a competition for RDR2 in TakeTwo's eyes.

[@Yoriichi24]

They don't take down every mod, they take down ports that uses assets from their older games and rockstar has every right to do so since it's their IP and I'm pretty sure they are required to protect it. You can perfectly make a new map for GTA V from scratch and not get taken down, since it's an original creation. Check Roxwood island or Las Venturas maps for GTA V, those are made from scratch and haven't been taken down and won't be since they are original creations from modders.

[@BIGwillTHEGAME]

Good point

[@Ayymoss]

It is a shame they don't promote or at least discuss with the community these mods. However, they aren't obligated to. Your comment on "harm" suggesting that LCPP and the Underground mod were "harmless" is wrong. IP infringement is a form of legal harm, so, suggesting that there's "no harm" seems a little disingenuous. Also, who do you think was writing those Newswire posts? It wasn't the lawyers, I can tell you that. Yet, you seem to be conflating these two processes within the entity. Just because something happened in the past, does not mean it will continue into the future. Just because they didn't enforce their IP protection in the past does not mean they do not have the right to do so in the future. Legally, they must protect their IP else they risk losing the ability. So it makes sense why they do. I don't understand how this makes the entity, holistically, hypocritical.

[@ultimatecontagion]

You're not gonna get yourself a free copy of GTA 6 by glazing R* to no end. Give it up pal.

[@Ayymoss]

@@ultimatecontagion Way to dismiss the point without engaging. Nice job bro. Also, just because you're clearly unaware, IP law protects the consumer as much as it does entities. The fact you aren't aware of this shows your ignorance on the subject, and laughably the creator's since they hearted your comment. It's interesting that the uploader would rather heart an ad-hom than substantively discuss the points raised. This does undermine the narrative they're attempting to write, especially when they fundamentally misunderstand how entities operate. Funny the people talking about the subject know absolutely nothing on the topic.

[@CaptainGlack]

Frankly, I’m not interested in the law. Legality is no substitute for morality. The fact that Rockstar flip-flop on mods is proof that the legality is irrelevant. They once allowed map conversions and now they don’t; seems pretty hypocritical to me.

[@ultimatecontagion]

​​​@@Ayymoss I can just tell you're those types of people that like to read the terms and conditions of something that doesn't matter. Also it's quite pathetic that you're liking your own comment. Quit defending a company that clearly doesn't give two fucks about you and its community.

[@Ayymoss]

@CaptainGlack no, but we live in a society which has these legal frameworks. Ignoring them doesn't make them go away. As for your comment about change, if you analyse it through the lens of an adolescent then sure, but just like your personal belief, policies within companies change. Or, I hope you've revised one of your positions from when you were a child, because if not, your stated position becomes a lot more clear. I recognise this is rather condescending, but the amount of videos that have been released recently which tell an incredibly biased framing of this situation is honestly unhinged. You are a proponent of this problem. Be more moderate.

[@Memoquin1866]

I guess a ‘Frat Boy Culture’ wasn’t that bad after all

[@CaptainGlack]

I wouldn’t go that far ahahaha

[@rollschuh2282]

and i think the Reason R* doesn´t do those QA's anymore and showcase other community made stuff and such is bc of the GTA 6 spam imagine Rockstar trying to get questions from social media for a Q&A but 99% is just people asking for GTA 6 or "don´t care, release GTA 6" and R* was also smaller back then on social media i say compare the likes and replies R* got back then compared to now the GTA 5 trailer tweet has only a few hundred likes max

[@AlexisStreams]

Rockstar Games Is Not a Hypocrite - Direct Your Blame Toward Take-Two Many fans are quick to call Rockstar Games hypocritical for their stance on mods, but this argument falls apart when you take a closer look at the power dynamics between Rockstar and their publisher, Take-Two Interactive. The real issue here isn’t Rockstar-it’s Take-Two. 1. Companies Can Change Their Minds, and That’s Normal Yes, Rockstar once tolerated mods, and now they don’t-or at least, their stance appears to have shifted. But companies, like people, are allowed to evolve. What they once supported, they may later oppose due to changing business strategies, legal concerns, or external pressure. That’s simply how the industry works. However, even if Rockstar itself is still pro-mods, it ultimately answers to Take-Two. And Take-Two has a clear track record of aggressively shutting down mods, even beyond Rockstar’s games. 2. Take-Two’s Track Record of Anti-Mod Behavior Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar’s parent company, has a history of cracking down on modders across its franchises. A great example is the WWE 2K series. Recently, a well-known modder named What’sTheStatus faced a massive takedown attempt from Take-Two. The backlash was so intense that Take-Two was forced to reverse their decision, reinstating the modder’s ability to share content. This case proves that Take-Two, not Rockstar, is the driving force behind these aggressive takedown attempts. The same pattern applies to Rockstar’s games-whenever mods are targeted, it’s Take-Two pulling the strings, not necessarily Rockstar itself. 3. The EULA Clearly States You Don’t Own the Game A key detail many gamers overlook is the End User License Agreement (EULA). In Section 2, Subsections 2.1 - 2.3, it explicitly states that when you purchase a game, you do not own it outright-you only own a license to play it. This legal framework gives publishers like Take-Two the authority to dictate what is and isn’t allowed within their games, including mods. Whether you agree with it or not, these terms are industry standard. So, when Take-Two enforces them, it’s not hypocrisy-it’s corporate policy. 4. Publishers Control Game Releases, Not Just Developers It’s important to recognize that without a publisher, most game developers-including Rockstar-cannot release their games. Publishers provide funding, marketing, distribution, and legal support. While some smaller indie games can be self-published, major AAA titles like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption require the backing of a publisher to reach the global market. In Rockstar’s case, Take-Two holds that power. If Take-Two decides that mods must be shut down, Rockstar has little choice but to comply. Conclusion: Focus Your Frustration Where It Belongs If you’re frustrated with the crackdown on mods, don’t direct your anger at Rockstar-direct it at Take-Two. Take-Two has proven, time and again, that they are the ones making these decisions across multiple franchises, not just Rockstar titles. Rockstar is a developer. Take-Two is the publisher. And when it comes to anti-mod policies, Take-Two is calling the shots.

[@CaptainGlack]

Actually, Rockstar is both a publisher & developer. Take-Two has been on the record as having been very “hands-off” with Rockstar, so it may well be Rockstar itself. We can’t know if it’s Take-Two or Rockstar behind these takedowns, but we do know that it’s *Rockstar’s* lawyers enforcing *Rockstar’s* policy.

[@AlexisStreams]

@@CaptainGlack Can you blame them? they are protecting their assets. can you blame them for enforcing the rules they set

[@itsskully4390]

@@AlexisStreams After that insult that was the GTA Trilogy The "Definitive" Edition, I don't know, man. Was it worth shutting down almost two decade old mods for those simple ports?

[@AlexisStreams]

@@itsskully4390 yes they were made without authorization and they were ILLEGALLY redistributed which goes against Take Two's Terms of Services we agreed to

[@itsskully4390]

@ Okay, legally speaking, it's wrong. I get that. But to me, morally speaking, it is pathetic with how sudden it was. They didn't care for almost 20 years, but now they're desperate to grab as much money as possible with this release, first by shutting down these mods, second, delisting the originals across all digital storefronts, and then the cherry on top of it all was making it $50 with the games being in an even worse state than the originals. I see it as an insult of intelligence towards the consumers. It sounds as though they think we would be convinced that a turd would be good if they sold it to us. The least they could've done at the time was something little more important and current, like investing in some kind of security for GTA Online as peoples' information were being stolen and PCs were getting RATed. But nah, of all times they do it, they decided to do it recently. They prioritized the old single player mods over anti-cheat and better security for their current live service game, which they surprisingly got away with for several years. I think that's pretty fucked up.

[@madhunter6420]

"rockstar has changed, we know it" yet some of you still refuse and use the nostalgia glasses to think GTAVI will be as good as the previous games 😂 it will be very drastically different.

[@MeadeJ67]

I don't believe he did that... Most of us don't have faith in R* at this point. VI will be a technical marvel, sure, but it will be a vastly different game in terms of writing & humor & there's no way the online will be anything but a predatory time sink.

[@mrscruffles801]

It's gonna be cheeks, I'll just play vc stories instead.

[@ultimatecontagion]

That and the original Vice City. 👍🏾✌🏾🤏🏾🤙🏾 ​@@mrscruffles801

[@KemonoGamer75]

But we dont know much about GTA 6 except first trailer. Who knows what the final product will be...

[@nibba5692]

​@@KemonoGamer75 it will be complete shit

[@dearg_doom]

What do you expect from Take Joo

[@xandercogan5521]

your a brit why are you saying zeee and not zed also I'm not trying to be a hater just pointing out because my parents used to tell me because we're British it's zed also wdym porting maps isn't allowed just by rockstar or all companies

[@kingkappa9315]

Don’t buy 🤔

[@Dave_Just_Dave]

Okay, playing devil's advocate for these two mods it actually kinda makes sense, I mean for the Liberty City preservation mod it brings in the radio station, breaking the the copyright laws, so it's understandable why they would have a problem with that. Then, the Vice City Next Gen, it had the radio stations and all the dialogue and missions, again breaking the copyright laws, and literally acting as a replacement for the DE, which is costing them money. Again, this makes sense. If it was JUST the maps, and maybe the cars, but NOTHING else, and they took the mods down I'd be a bit more annoyed. It still breaking the copyright laws, but it's not making it so the music artists or the voice actors aren't having their work taken without any compensation. These two mods are using the work from the music artists and voice actors without compensation, so I understand why they are being taken down.

[@CaptainGlack]

I understand that perspective, but I don’t think Rockstar would be liable for music used and distributed by modders. Besides, there was copyrighted music in the GTA III Liberty City conversation they promoted before.

[@PoHeisenberg]

Mod offline and online diff