Fear of legal action from Take-Two Interactive forces modders to take GTA United mod down

The GTA modding community has been in dire straits recently as Take-Two interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, is issuing DMCA notices to modders.

The latest victim of the GTA modding apocalypse is the GTA United mod which was preemptively taken offline by its developers for fear of legal action. GTA United was famous for combining GTA San Andreas, Vice City and GTA III's maps into one massive game, giving players the chance to experience all of Rockstar's worlds in a new light.

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GTA United developers take mod offline before Take-Two DMCA notice

GTA United's developer team recently posted an update on their website titled "Final Chapter". Chronicling the events leading up to the removal, the developers inform fans with a heavy heart that they've decided to willingly take GTA United down:

Due to the increasing DMCA takedowns against various GTA San Andreas map modifications, it is with a heavy heart that we must announce that we decided to preemptively take all remaining instances of GTA United, including its predecessors VC2SA and LC2SA, down.

Take-Two interactive has been aggressively taking down map mods for older GTA titles in a bid to protect its Intellectual Property and conserve the longevity of older titles.

This means that, while our team hasn't received a takedown notice, we opted ourselves to say goodbye on our own conditions, and that effectively now all our official uploads are taken offline.

The loss of GTA United is a huge blow to the GTA community who simply enjoyed exploring Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas as part of one giant world. The concept was unironically the frontrunner for GTA 6 rumors, claiming older GTA maps would combine to form one giant land mass that players could explore.

The community is visibly shaken by Take-Two's aggressive stance on map mods and probably won't be attempting them any time soon as Rockstar Games' parent company continues its rampage.

What this means for the future of GTA modding is uncertain. However, team GTA United's parting words for fans highlight the spirit of modding and keep hope alive for future projects:

To us, it wasn't just about merging the maps of two of our favourite games, it was about bringing them once again to life. From small missions and races, radio stations, a breathing world through working pedestrians in the streets, new load and menu screens, custom graffities and hundreds of items handplaced in the world, including our own collectibles in form of United numplates. These are only a couple of the things we hoped would help people in immersing themselves once again in these iconic worlds.

For now, GTA United cannot be officially downloaded and players may have to rely on third party mirrors to get their hands on it.