Take-Two interactive recently released its earnings report for the past quarter and some serious profits were made, outperforming Wall Street Expectations. The vast majority of GTA V related revenue came in from from GTA Online, with players spending on microtransactions.
We also know that there has been all sorts of alternative multiplayer modifications made for the game, changing the way the official version of GTA Online is meant to function. They enable mods to be used in select lobbies, and allow various game mechanics to be tweaked in a way other than that of the official version.
The problem is that players playing these GTA Online alternatives aren't playing the official version, and therefore are not buying into the shark cash cards. One of the biggest of these mods, GTA: Multiplayer, was shut down just today. The development team has announced that they were approached by Take-Two to cease developing the mod as it was infringing their copyrights (and putting players onto an "unofficial" game version).
Pay attention, AAA industry — this is how it's done.
Take-Two and Rockstar, knowing how popular GTA: M is, clearly saw that the continued existence of the mod would prove to be a problem. While other companies throw lawsuits around like candy, suing other developers over a word in a game's title, Take-Two took the high road, and politely asked the GTA: M dev team to shut down their mod.
The team, in turn, adhered to the promise they made back when GTA: M began — that they will never damage Rockstar in any way, and will respect the developers of GTA V. Thus, as of today, the GTA: M servers are no longer up, and the mod website shows the team's goodbye letter.
Rockstar's developers have invested so much time to create this beautiful game. We have repeatedly stated our position: We are not going to cross this line, we won't damage them.
Have any of you guys ever tried out an alternative to GTA Online?
