Rockstar sends copyright strike against GTA founders for prototype videos

Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive have once again shocked the GTA community by going after Mike Dailly, one of the founders of DMA Designs and the Grand Theft Auto Series.

Mike Dailly tweeted that videos of Grand Theft Auto prototypes from 1994 have been taken down from his YouTube channel. Mike's prototype version of the first GTA game looks almost like the released version.

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Rockstar takes down videos of GTA founder from YouTube and Twitter

The original tweet that Dailly posted (Image via Twitter/@mdf200)

With his involvement in the first two Grand Theft Auto games, Mike Dailly is well-known for being one of the designers of the popular franchise. But it seems like Rockstar Games and Take-Two appear to have targeted him, and as a result, he has received copyright strikes on his YouTube channel and Twitter account.

Videos of the two original GTA prototype engines, which never made it into the final game, were also taken off of his YouTube account by Rockstar Games. Interestingly, one of these engines was abandoned 28 years ago. The official GTA games didn't use any of the prototype engines that Dailly had shown off on his YouTube channel, and all of the code had to be redone from scratch.

Due to the developers' lack of visibility prior to the release of the well-known series, development documentation for GTA is scarce. However, a few of the original developers that worked at DMA Design in the iconic franchise's early stages have recently shared some behind-the-scenes development footage, including Mike Dailly.

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Fans' reaction to copyright strike

The Scottish video game designer's tweet has sparked outrage within the Rockstar Games community. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's publisher and parent company, has repeatedly enraged Grand Theft Auto fans, but Rockstar has not always escaped the brunt of their wrath.

Modders of Grand Theft Auto and other titles from Rockstar Games have frequently received DMCA notices for minor issues. Mods that recreated any of the 3D Universe maps into the HD Universe games, for example, were immediately removed before the release of the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy. Fans were apparently willing to forgive them if the game ended up being worthwhile despite the DMCA takedowns.

However, the project turned out to be a disaster, and players were furious that they had lost access to these well-made mods because of a poorly-made game. Grand Theft Auto's modding community is one of the largest and most active modding communities out there, and their frequent clashes with the franchise's developers and publishers have created quite a tense atmosphere.