Take-Two has been on a rampage lately with takedown notices for multiple Grand Theft Auto mods. The company has issued takedowns on mods that have existed for over a decade for games like Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. The company really hasn't said why they've suddenly taken issue with these mods after so long.
Out of a fear of receiving a takedown notice on their own mod, the creators of the 14-year-old San Andreas mod, GTA United, decided to voluntarily pull their mod before Take-Two could get the chance to. The mod has been worked on in some capacity since 2006 and was originally two separate projects. One mod was trying to bring the Vice City map into San Andreas. The other mod was bringing Liberty City from GTA3 into San Andreas. The two teams eventually merged to form the massive GTA United mod.
The unfortunate news about GTA United came not with a bang, but with a whimper. A news post on the GTA United website provided a reason for the removal of the mod.
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.
This means that, while our team haven'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. We are sorry to all the people that enjoyed playing GTA United, many of which we had positive interactions with, but this is a step we felt was necessary, as Take Two and Rockstar Games seem to gradually reject more and more "Modding" of their games, even if it's the older ones.
We want to use this opportunity to say thanks to all the people that have helped with the creation, maintenance, hosting and support of GTA United. It has been a pleasure to work alongside such talented and dedicated people, an experience we shall never forget, and without all of you it would not have been possible to pull off.
There were so many layers to the whole project, so many little details and even small secrets hidden away, that at times it felt overwhelming to work on the project. 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 collectables 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.
Above all stands the fun we had while constructing this modification and the fun we had with people enjoying it, so once again, thanks a lot for the great time.
This means that, while our team haven'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. We are sorry to all the people that enjoyed playing GTA United, many of which we had positive interactions with, but this is a step we felt was necessary, as Take Two and Rockstar Games seem to gradually reject more and more "Modding" of their games, even if it's the older ones.
We want to use this opportunity to say thanks to all the people that have helped with the creation, maintenance, hosting and support of GTA United. It has been a pleasure to work alongside such talented and dedicated people, an experience we shall never forget, and without all of you it would not have been possible to pull off.
There were so many layers to the whole project, so many little details and even small secrets hidden away, that at times it felt overwhelming to work on the project. 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 collectables 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.
Above all stands the fun we had while constructing this modification and the fun we had with people enjoying it, so once again, thanks a lot for the great time.
