Earlier this month, we covered a new GTA V mod crafted with Inworld AI's Character Engine by modder Bloc. That mod added a whole new storyline to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V, though its defining feature was the support for completely unscripted conversation with non-player characters (NPCs). It wasn't Bloc's first attempt at injecting generative AI technology in a game, as he previously did it with Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Unfortunately, Take-Two has taken down the GTA V mod. Not only that, but they've also hit Bloc's YouTube channel with a copyright strike on the demonstration video. The modder shared the news with his community while expressing his disheartened feelings after this unfortunate event.
No one from Take-Two Interactive contacted and ask me anything prior to 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 must say, 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 3 months and remains as a mark on the channel, but more importantly, this can lead to account termination if it continues. If there was something violating 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 send me an email. Instead, they chose a non-communicative approach.
Because I was never actually a YouTuber and my subscriber count stayed in mid to low range, I never relied on YouTube's revenue, so not being able to get monetized for 3 months is not a life-changing deal for me. However, the knowledge that all my videos will continue to display ads to you, someone who benefits from my videos and efforts while not allowing me to get anything, is a factor that discourages me from creating more content and mods in the future.
Unfortunately, this is far from the first time Take-Two has acted aggressively against certain mods and community projects. For example, Luke Ross received a takedown notice last year for his Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA V, and Mafia VR mods, forcing him to remove them entirely. Take-Two went to even greater lengths by filing a lawsuit against the team that reverse-engineered Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City.
While there are plenty of GTA V, RDR 2, and Mafia mods that remain available, Take-Two may take them down at any time if they so choose. Let's hope that Bloc continues his modding work on games made by friendlier companies when it comes to mod policy.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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