OpenIV, one of the most powerful and popular modding tools for the Grand Theft Auto series, recently received a cease and desist letter from Take-Two Interactive. After a massive community backlash that saw GTA V's Steam rating drop into "very negative" Rockstar finally issued an incredibly vague official statement. Given how ambiguous the statement was many were worried this was nothing more than a placebo, something to divert attention while the whole thing blows over.

Thankfully, that was not the case, and OpenIV team has now been given the approval they need to continue on with their work. Unfortunately, this did not come without sacrifices. The highly anticipated Liberty City in GTA V mod will not be released as it contradicts Rockstar's newly updated policy on mods. Here's the full quote from the OpenIV team:

"In order to qualify all of the questions we had received during past weeks, we make some explanations:

The community

First of all, we want to say "Thank you" to everyone who supported us in this tough situation. We’re very grateful for your support; for demonstration of the fact, that modding community is still a minority, but very vocal, creative and determined minority. You made the impossible and this story is already scribed into the history of PC gaming and the Internet itself.

Yes, this is your victory! Congratulations and many thanks once again! 

OpenIV and modding

The development of OpenIV will be continued as before. OpenIV never supported GTA Online modding and will not support it in the future. Our work will be continued within the Rockstar modding policy. 

Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto V

Unfortunately, our highly anticipated mod “Liberty City in GTA V” will not be released because it clearly contradicts with Rockstar modding policy. Liberty City mod is a big loss for us, since it was a huge part of our motivation to push OpenIV functionality. 

If you are wondering what is next, well, we are currently revising our plans for the future."

While I'm glad to see OpenIV back in business, I'm not exactly happy about how developers are starting to demonize mods. Without them half of the games I play would be significantly worse, and no amount of paid DLC would ever be able to help with that. As such, here's to hoping the massive backlash surrounding OpenIV will prevent similar scenarios from playing out in the future.