GTA 5 AI mod taken down by Take-Two lawyers
"This hostile attitude towards me and the mod is very disheartening."
The creator of a GTA AI mod has had their mod shutdown entirely by Take-Two.
Earlier this week we reported on the Sentient Streets mods for GTA 5 created by Bloc, which uses AI to generate free conversations with NPCs.
Now, the mod's NexusMods listing and a YouTube video showcasing its gameplay have both been made unavailable due to copyright claims by publisher Take-Two. Sentient Streets is no longer available to download.
Bloc issued a statement on YouTube, shared with Eurogamer, detailing how initially the YouTube video and the installation guide on Netlify were removed without warning by Take-Two. This was followed by the mod's removal on NexusMods due to a DMCA takedown from Take-Two.
"No one from Take-Two Interactive contacted and asked me anything prior to this, they just took down the video out of nowhere," said Bloc, who believes this was a deliberate manual DCMA takedown request and not automated.
"I must say, as a person who grew up with the Grand Theft Auto series and enjoyed all the games throughout the years, this hostile attitude towards me and the mod is very disheartening."
Bloc explains they would be happy to discuss the situation with Take-Two, however instead the publisher "chose a non-communicative approach".
"If the real reason of this takedown is really me using GTA 5 in the video, then one might ask, if using GTA 5 in the video is a copyright strike reason, how is it possible that there are millions of YouTube videos on here at this very moment that showcases or simply does lets-play videos for over a decade without any problems? Unfortunately, this seems to look like an excuse to attack and take a stance against the mod."
Bloc notes that the mod was available for free download and was open-source, it didn't utilise voices from GTA 5 or distribute anything untoward.
"I am a single modder who does this in my free time for fun, so I don't have the resources to legally defend myself in this situation. Frankly, I also don't want to spend time on this," said Bloc.
"Knowing that large corporations can issue strikes based on arbitrary reasons, which can cause your work to go in vain in moments, is also discouraging to say the least."
Bloc ends their statement by quoting Rockstar from a post on Roleplay servers: "Rockstar Games has always believed in reasonable fan creativity and wants creators to showcase their passion for our games."
Rockstar does allow mods for its single-player games, but not online multiplayer - though this is rarely enforced. However, just last week the company announced a group of roleplaying modders previously banned from the game are now official partners with Rockstar.
Eurogamer has contacted Rockstar for comment.