The gaming community knows full-well that Take-Two isn’t very fond of modding for their games. However, this news may come as a surprise to many. The parent company of Rockstar has sent a Cease and Desist letter to a popular modding device to shut it down.
The modding tool in question here is called OpenIV and has existed for around 10 years. The group behind this tool created it to work with a range of games including Grand Theft Auto V. In a blog post released by the team behind this tool, they explain their side of the story.
In the post they state that they’ve always been careful to follow the rules set by the company. However, they note that modding “always was a “gray zone”” making it a “battlefield between lawyers and PR”.
While the group may have been careful, they’ve been hit with a Cease and Desist letter. This letter comes 10 years after the group initially formed to create modding tools such as OpenIV.
The Cease and Desist letter states that they “allow third parties to defeat security features of its software and modify that software in violation Take-Two’s rights”. However, the group states that this is not true and that they could fight the large company in court. In addition to this, the blog post from the team comments on how “illiterate” the letter is.
OpenIV have decided that they will not be fighting this in court. They will be giving Take-Two Interactive what they want by no longer distributing the tool. This is due to how long the court process would take. The team doesn’t believe they will be given any compensation.
Take-Two Interactive is yet to provide any comments on the matter and it’s uncertain if other tools have received similar letters. We’ll be sure to update you when we learn more.
