The publisher of many Rockstar Games titles, Take-Two Interactive, recently sent a cease and desist letter to the team of the popular modding software OpenIV. For the last decade, the OpenIV team has worked to add a wealth of modding support to a few of Rockstar’s key products including Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V at no cost to Rockstar, Take-Two, or players. In the name of keeping the integrity of Grand Theft Auto Online (the name for the online portion of Grand Theft Auto V), OpenIV was forced to close up shop – even though the sort of mods it supported did not affect or were not intended to affect the online experience.

As of June 23rd, 2017, Rockstar have released a statement on their support website about the future of single player modding. It reads:

Question: Are PC Single-Player Mods Allowed?

Answer: Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity, and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games. After discussions with Take-Two, Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties. This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project. This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project. Take-Two reserves the right to object to any third-party project, or to revise, revoke and/or withdraw this statement at any time in their own discretion. This statement does not constitute a waiver of any rights that Take-Two may have with respect to third-party projects.

Due to this major turn in the situation, there is a possibility that OpenIV may be returning. I was unable to find a download link on their website that still worked as of June 23rd, 2017 at 5:16 PM EST. Steam user Oz posted a screenshot of an alleged update to OpenIV titled “2.9.0 (Build 907; Date 6/23/2017)”. The validity of this image has not yet been totally confirmed, but other users in this Steam Community discussions thread where it was posted have reported similar results upon attempting to launch OpenIV. Thanks to Jeff (moderator of the Nanos Discord, speaking unofficially) for helping me locate information about the supposed update.

EDIT: PCGamer has received word from Rockstar that they are in talks with the developers of OpenIV.