Rockstar Shuts Down Fan-Made Liberty City Mod in GTA 5

A group of dedicated Grand Theft Auto fans recently had to pull the plug on their big project, and Rockstar Games is behind the decision.

The "Liberty City Preservation Project" aimed to bring the beloved setting of GTA 4 into GTA 5 as a detailed, playable mod. It was gaining a lot of attention from the community, and that spotlight may have been what got it noticed by Rockstar. After a conversation with the company, the mod team announced via Discord that they had agreed to shut down the project.

There's a new mod on the block for GTAV "Liberty City Preservation Project", I tried out the mod. It's AMAZING, it has a working subway network, the police and ambient traffic are faithful and it's so polished.

Amazing work to the team of devs who worked on this! pic.twitter.com/aLLtOMvwsc

— ben (@videotechuk_) December 31, 2024

This isn’t the first time Rockstar has stepped in to stop a fan-made mod. Mods that bring new life to existing games, such as AI-powered story modes or VR experiences, have also been taken down in the past. Even a project that attempted to recreate Vice City inside GTA 5 was forced offline.

However, the relationship between Rockstar and the modding community isn’t all bad. In some cases, Rockstar has hired talented modders to join their team. There’s also a pattern of certain fan projects being shut down, only for Rockstar to later release official remastered versions of those same games.

While the end of the Liberty City mod doesn’t confirm a GTA 4 remaster is on the way, the timing is interesting. Fans can't help but wonder if Rockstar has similar plans in the works. For now, though, the company seems fully focused on launching Grand Theft Auto 6, which is expected to drop in 2025.

(via Insider Gaming)