Take-Two and ‘Grand Theft Auto’ modders will settle legal battle

Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive and a group of modders have both filed to settle a court case concerning reverse-engineering of the Grand Theft Auto series.

In September 2021, Take-Two filed a lawsuit against a group of programmers responsible for reverse-engineering both Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

While the modders claimed that their project – titled ‘re3’ – was covered by fair use, Take-Two issued several takedown notices; and legal proceedings have continued behind closed doors.

However, on Monday (February 6), a court filing in California (via Twitter user videotech_) confirmed that both Take-Two and the defendants have “settled in principle,” though are still finalising the exact settlement.

As a result, the case is expected to be finished within a month.

“We figured we have a good case for fair use on the grounds that we are improving and fixing the game as well as bringing it to new platforms,” said project lead aap back in 2021. “This was the reason for quite a few people to purchase the game from Take-Two to play it on their favourite platforms. So in fact we’re only making them money and we figured it would be unwise of them to actually go after us.

In recent years, Take-Two has been accused of taking a heavy-handed approach to modding within its games. In the months leading up to Take-Two’s lawsuit, the company removed a number of popular Grand Theft Auto mods by issuing DMCA takedowns.

However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has argued that the company is “pretty flexible” with the way it issues takedowns.

“That said, if the economy is threatened, or if there’s bad behaviour, and we know how to define that, then we would issue a takedown notice,” he added.

In other gaming news, Take-Two has confirmed that Ken Levine’s upcoming sci-fi game Judas will launch before March 2025.