He said the publisher shouldn’t be chasing more minor mods with pitchforks (like Nintendo…). Instead, they should make proper remakes with better pricing (he means the degenerate GTA trilogy and the remake of Red Dead Redemption).

Grand Theft Auto V had a mod where you could use AI to talk to NPCs in Los Santos. It was Sentient Streets, and Take-Two was so bothered by its existence that it was removed from Nexus Mods and YouTube (will there be something similar in Grand Theft Auto VI?). On GTA 5 Mods, the modder, Bloc, removed it before a DMCA claim was made.

Bloc posted this update on YouTube: ” Yesterday, Take-Two Interactive hit my channel with copyright strike about my video on GTA V mod, and YouTube removed the video immediately without giving any chance to explain myself. Take-Two Interactive showed this takedown to YouTube because I used their software (Grand Theft Auto V) in the video. No one from Take-Two Interactive contacted and asked me anything before this; they just took down the video out of nowhere. Two days ago, my account on Netlify was also suspended. I used Netlify to host the installation guide for the mod. I should not claim anything without proof, of course, since Netlify didn’t bother explaining, but to me, it seems these two cases seem to be related. A video with over 100,000 views and an approximate video-like rate of 98.4%. Hence, it’s not associated with a hostile reception; on the contrary, the video is liked by many, as you can understand from this ratio. I contacted the claimant’s email address shown on YouTube (a Take-Two email address) and was hoping there might be a slight misunderstanding or they could explain the reasoning behind it. Perhaps this occurred automatically, but the evidence suggests a deliberate manual DMCA takedown request from them. I also didn’t get any response back. It looks like they are just attacking to mod from all fronts.

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. This copyright strike on my channel hinders my ability to monetize my videos for the upcoming three months and remains a mark on the channel. Still, more importantly, this can lead to account termination if it continues. If something violated the policy in the video (such as something I said, the thumbnail, or something in the description, etc.), I would be happy to discuss that with Take2’s contact person if they would just email me. Instead, they chose a non-communicative approach. Suppose the real reason for this takedown is me using GTA V in the video. In that case, one might ask, if using GTA V 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 like an excuse to attack and take a stance against the mod. This is somewhat puzzling, considering the mod is both FREE and open-source. The mod is available at two separate locations for download, where you don’t need to register on those pages to download it. The mod can be played freely without any cost, as demonstrated by the thousands of players who have downloaded and enjoyed it thus far.

The mod does not utilize any voices from Grand Theft Auto nor distribute anything it shouldn’t. I haven’t included my Patreon link in mod descriptions or videos to avoid any potential controversy. I am not a lawyer, but as far as I know, the mod is not violating any Grand Theft Auto or YouTube policy. Whether you like it or not or dislike the idea of having AI in video games, it is one thing. However, while the mod does not appear to be violating anything, removing the video and issuing a copyright strike without communication is another matter. I can object to YouTube’s objection system, but this escalates things to legal authorities. I am a single modder who does this in my free time for fun, so I don’t have the resources to defend myself in this situation legally. Frankly, I also don’t want to spend time on this.

I hope anyone who enjoyed this mod will remember this dishonest action taken by Take-Two whenever they hear any news about the Rockstar. Rather than chasing minor mods, perhaps they should focus on creating proper remakes with better pricing policies or stop removing cars Online to sell identical vehicles to people. I will end this post with Rockstar’s own words on modding, and I invite you to consider whether you believe this action aligns with their public statement from 2022 or not: “Rockstar Games has always believed in reasonable fan creativity and wants creators to showcase their passion for our games.”

If a company protects its copyright, it’s okay. However, it is a non-profit mod. If someone on Patreon supports Bloc, it’s for indirect gain. The mod was free to download and, by definition, unusable without owning the game. We congratulate the publisher for their inhumane approach, but seeing that they are asking $50 for a re-release of Red Dead Redemption, we are not surprised…

Source: PCGamer