GTA 5 Liberty City Mod: Shutdown Notice

Summary

• A GTA 5 mod featuring Liberty City was discontinued after discussions with Rockstar Games.
• Many players believe the modders were pressured to shut down the project.
• Despite this setback, the modding team remains committed to continuing their work on GTA mods.

An exciting mod for Grand Theft Auto 5 that brought back Liberty City has unfortunately been discontinued. This news comes after the mod garnered significant attention in 2024.

While some game companies like Bethesda embrace community modding, others, such as Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company), frequently shut down mod projects. Despite the challenges posed by some publishers, modders continue their efforts passionately. Even after this setback, the modding team behind the Liberty City Preservation Project, known as World Travel, remains dedicated to modding for GTA.

World Travel announced the discontinuation of their mod on their Discord channel, citing "unexpected attention" and discussions with Rockstar Games as the reasons for taking it down. While no further details were provided on the nature of their conversation with Rockstar, the team expressed their ongoing passion for modding GTA.

Another GTA Mod Bites the Dust

Although World Travel did not explicitly state they were forced to discontinue the mod, many in the community suspect otherwise. The mention of "speaking to Rockstar Games" suggests a potentially amicable discussion, but it's likely that the team was warned about possible legal action, such as a DMCA takedown. Given that most mods are created by volunteers without legal support, such warnings often lead to the immediate cessation of projects.

Fans of the Liberty City mod have expressed their disappointment on social media, criticizing Rockstar and Take-Two for their aggressive stance on mods. Some speculate that Rockstar's actions might be motivated by concerns over the impact on GTA 4 sales, although this reasoning is contested by many. GTA 4 is an aging game, and playing the mod still requires owning GTA 5. Despite the rationale behind the decision, the Liberty City Preservation Project is no longer available. Fans can only hope that future projects by World Travel will fare better, though it seems unlikely that Take-Two's approach to mods will change soon.