By now, it should come as no surprise that Take-Two is not a fan of mods. Anything that threatens their intellectual property is something they frown upon, and they don’t hesitate to send their lawyers in that direction. This sentiment was echoed by the community this week when a scenario of recreating GTA 5’s map in Fortnite was not publicly released, and now, it has been proven true. Creating mods for GTA 5 can now be considered a risky endeavor.
Just a week ago, a creator named Bloc released a mod called “Sentient Streets.” This mod allowed players to interact with NPCs through their microphone, as over twenty different AI entities enabled real-time responses. Each NPC had a distinct personality and responded with varying tones based on player behavior and the situation. Despite the typical limitations of such mods — where characters don’t contribute much to the narrative beyond making them feel more human — this mod had been gaining popularity over the past few days.
This prompted Take-Two to take action, sending multiple copyright claims to Bloc’s channels on both YouTube and NexusMods. As a result, the creator himself decided to remove the mod and all related content, fearing more drastic actions from Take-Two.
In an update on his YouTube channel, Bloc wrote, “YouTube removed the videos immediately without giving me a chance to explain,” and “at this time, the Nexus Mods version has been taken down due to a DMCA takedown request by Take-Two Interactive.” This led him to take similar action with the GTA5 Mods version, aiming to avoid potential legal issues. After all, the YouTube claim could result in his channel being demonetized for three months.
In response to all of this, Bloc has understandably expressed his frustration. He stated that “instead of going after small mods, they should focus on creating decent remakes with better pricing policies.” He pointed out how Rockstar Games itself stated in 2022 that “we have always believed in fans’ reasonable creativity and want creators to showcase their passion for our games.” As Bloc rightly highlights, this sentiment doesn’t seem to be reflected in their constant legal attacks against anyone who stands out even a bit in the GTA 5 modding scene.
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