Rockstar Games is cracking down on GTA Online cheaters with BattlEye and DMCA takedowns, hoping to clean up Los Santos.
Rockstar Games ramped up its anti-cheating efforts in Grand Theft Auto Online last week with the introduction of the BattlEye update.
Now, Take-Two Interactive has also stepped in, using real-life laws to keep the chaotic streets of Los Santos in check — as they've done a few times before.
Although the much-needed layer of protection for GTA Online has come at the expense of the game's Linux and Steam Deck player base—Valve and Rockstar are working on a solution—it's an overall positive development that should benefit GTA Online and Grand Theft Auto 6, in the future.
Meanwhile, instead of banning cheaters in the virtual world, Take-Two is going after cheat distributers in the real one. According to @videothechuk_ on X, formerly Twitter, Take-Two has been using DCMA takedown requests to remove GTA Online mod menus from the game.
Mod menus, for those who are unaware of their existence, let players "customize their gameplay experience" — with an unfair advantage, that is. They're basically a more accessible and robust way of cheating in the game.
Instead of inputting your favorite GTA 5 cheats, you choose from a drop-down list of things that you want to have or do, from changing stats to spawning objects. This is great for single player, but when you're playing GTA Online, it can detract from everyone's overall experience — believe us when we say that mod menu cheats in GTA Online on PC are pretty prevalent.
Rockstar has been battling against cheaters and hackers in GTA Online on PC for years. With GTA 6 coming out soon, it's ramping its efforts to make sure that GTA 6's online component doesn't suffer a similar fate on the PC. Considering that Rockstar's parent company is now involved, it's clear that they're trying to send a message—cheating and hacking are no longer welcome in GTA Online.
However, it will be interesting to see how those who make a living out of selling mod menus will retaliate. Over the weekend, GTA Online saw its servers go down because of a DDOS attack, presumably spearheaded by groups affected by the most recent BattlEye update.
By issuing DMCA takedowns, Take-Two might have opened GTA Online to worse, if not more frequent, attacks. Then again, taking such a drastic measure this early on could stop these groups in their tracks for fear of legal repercussions.
In other news, Rockstar Games recently leaked its plans to release a PC port of GTA 5 Expanded and Enhanced, which is currently exclusive to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X.
