As evidenced once again by Take-Two Interactive Software's (whose subsidiaries include 2K Games and Rockstar Games) recent legal action, history repeats itself as their latest lawsuit (PDF) aims at Grand Theft Auto 3 / GTA Vice City Modders of the fan-based re3 and reVC reverse-engineering project.
Back in 2017 we witnessed Take-Two (T2) Ordering Modders to Halt Game Modding Tools until the development community bounced back adding OpenIV 3.0 Featured PS4 (Orbis) Support, so Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software sought vengeance and Obtained Warrants to Search Homes of GTA5 Cheaters... after which the FBI's Warrant Ordering PS4 PSN Data from Sony (in an unrelated case) wasn't much of a surprise either.
To quote from VideoGamesChronicle.com on Take-Two's most recent lawsuit allegations, in part:
Take-Two is now suing the programmers who worked on the GTA project, claiming they “are well aware that they do not possess the right to copy, adapt, or distribute derivative GTA source code, or the audiovisual elements of the games, and that doing so constitutes copyright infringement”.
The suit claims that the project is causing “irreparable harm to Take-Two” and that the programmers “have appropriated a market that belongs to Take-Two (namely, the market for modified or handheld versions of the games), and enabled countless others to now create their own unauthorized, derivative versions of the games.”
While GTA community homebrew developers managed to port GTA 3 and GTA Vice City to modern platforms without utilizing the original source code, according to a Kotaku.com report it appears Rockstar is also planning to bring the GTA Remastered Trilogy to PS5, Switch and Xbox consoles... perhaps an underlying reason for these otherwise frivolous lawsuits.
If I bought GTA3 back in October 2001 when it was released I'd definitely NOT be willing to repurchase it again 20 years later (especially at egregious R* pricing further enabling them to sue scene devs) just to play an antiquated game on a modern platform... emulation FTW, feel free to share your comments below!
Take-Two Suing GTA3 Reverse Engineering Devs... and It Doesn't Look Good | MVG
GTA V Legacy Alpha | Unlocked FPS Test by ReLive Modding
GTA RE3 Reverse Engineered GTA III Gameplay
re3 and reVC Showcase
Back in 2017 we witnessed Take-Two (T2) Ordering Modders to Halt Game Modding Tools until the development community bounced back adding OpenIV 3.0 Featured PS4 (Orbis) Support, so Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software sought vengeance and Obtained Warrants to Search Homes of GTA5 Cheaters... after which the FBI's Warrant Ordering PS4 PSN Data from Sony (in an unrelated case) wasn't much of a surprise either.
To quote from VideoGamesChronicle.com on Take-Two's most recent lawsuit allegations, in part:
Take-Two is now suing the programmers who worked on the GTA project, claiming they “are well aware that they do not possess the right to copy, adapt, or distribute derivative GTA source code, or the audiovisual elements of the games, and that doing so constitutes copyright infringement”.
The suit claims that the project is causing “irreparable harm to Take-Two” and that the programmers “have appropriated a market that belongs to Take-Two (namely, the market for modified or handheld versions of the games), and enabled countless others to now create their own unauthorized, derivative versions of the games.”
While GTA community homebrew developers managed to port GTA 3 and GTA Vice City to modern platforms without utilizing the original source code, according to a Kotaku.com report it appears Rockstar is also planning to bring the GTA Remastered Trilogy to PS5, Switch and Xbox consoles... perhaps an underlying reason for these otherwise frivolous lawsuits.
If I bought GTA3 back in October 2001 when it was released I'd definitely NOT be willing to repurchase it again 20 years later (especially at egregious R* pricing further enabling them to sue scene devs) just to play an antiquated game on a modern platform... emulation FTW, feel free to share your comments below!
Take-Two Suing GTA3 Reverse Engineering Devs... and It Doesn't Look Good | MVG
GTA V Legacy Alpha | Unlocked FPS Test by ReLive Modding
GTA RE3 Reverse Engineered GTA III Gameplay
re3 and reVC Showcase