Earlier this month, we coated a brand new GTA V mod crafted with Inworld AI’s Character Engine by modder Bloc. That mod added an entire new storyline to Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, although its defining characteristic was the assist for fully unscripted dialog with non-player characters (NPCs). It wasn’t Bloc’s first try at injecting generative AI expertise in a sport, as he beforehand did it with Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Sadly, Take-Two has taken down the GTA V mod. Not solely that, however they’ve additionally hit Bloc’s YouTube channel with a copyright strike on the demonstration video. The modder shared the information together with his neighborhood whereas expressing his disheartened emotions after this unlucky occasion.

Nobody from Take-Two Interactive contacted and ask me something previous to this; they only took down the video out of nowhere. Two days in the past, my account on Netlify was additionally suspended. I used Netlify to host the set up information for the mod. […] I have to say, as an individual who grew up with the Grand Theft Auto collection and loved all of the video games all through the years, this hostile angle in the direction of me and the mod may be very disheartening. This copyright strike on my channel hinders my skill to monetize my movies for the upcoming 3 months and stays as a mark on the channel, however extra importantly, this will result in account termination if it continues. If there was one thing violating the coverage within the video (resembling one thing I mentioned, the thumbnail, or one thing within the description, and so on.), I’d be comfortable to debate that with Take2’s contact particular person if they might simply ship me an e-mail. As a substitute, they selected a non-communicative method.

As a result of I used to be by no means really a YouTuber and my subscriber depend stayed in mid to low vary, I by no means relied on YouTube’s income, so not having the ability to get monetized for 3 months will not be a life-changing deal for me. Nonetheless, the data that each one my movies will proceed to show adverts to you, somebody who advantages from my movies and efforts whereas not permitting me to get something, is an element that daunts me from creating extra content material and mods sooner or later.

Sadly, that is removed from the primary time Take-Two has acted aggressively towards sure mods and neighborhood initiatives. For instance, Luke Ross obtained a takedown discover final 12 months for his Pink Useless Redemption 2, GTA V, and Mafia VR mods, forcing him to take away them completely. Take-Two went to even higher lengths by submitting a lawsuit towards the workforce that reverse-engineered Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice Metropolis.

Whereas there are many GTA V, RDR 2, and Mafia mods that stay accessible, Take-Two could take them down at any time in the event that they so select. Let’s hope that Bloc continues his modding work on video games made by friendlier corporations in relation to mod coverage.