Defiant Modders Release 'GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition' Despite Take-Two Takedown

A Russian modding team, Revolution Team, has released its "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" mod despite Take-Two Interactive's efforts to remove related YouTube content. This ambitious project transplants the world, cutscenes, and missions of 2002's GTA Vice City into the 2008 GTA 4 engine.

The modders' YouTube channel was deleted without warning, resulting in the loss of hundreds of hours of streaming content and a significant portion of their community. Despite this setback, they released the mod as planned, offering it as a standalone installation package instead of requiring a legitimate copy of GTA 4, a decision made to ensure wider accessibility.

Revolution Team maintains the mod is entirely non-commercial, created by fans for fans, and expresses gratitude to the original game's developers. They hope their project will serve as a precedent for the modding community, challenging Take-Two's approach to modding initiatives.

Take-Two's history of removing mods, including an AI-powered GTA 5 story mode mod, a Red Dead Redemption 2 VR mod, and the Liberty City Preservation Project, is well-documented. This aggressive stance, however, is sometimes juxtaposed with the company hiring modders for Rockstar Games, and even preceding the announcement of remasters of games previously targeted by takedown notices.

A former Rockstar Games technical director, Obbe Vermeij, defended Take-Two's actions, stating that the company is simply protecting its business interests. He argued that the Vice City Nextgen Edition directly competes with the GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, and projects like the Liberty City Preservation Project could interfere with a potential GTA 4 remaster. Vermeij suggests that the best outcome is for Take-Two to allow mods that don't directly impact their commercial ventures.

The future of the "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" mod remains uncertain, with the question of whether Take-Two will pursue its removal still unanswered.