A Russian modding team, Revolution Team, has released its "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" mod despite Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company, issuing YouTube takedowns. This ambitious project transplants Vice City's world, cutscenes, and missions from 2002 into GTA 4's 2008 engine.

The modders reported that Take-Two deleted their YouTube channel without warning, resulting in the loss of a significant community and over 100,000 views on their teaser trailer. While initially intending to require a legitimate GTA 4 copy, the mod is now released as a standalone installer to ensure wider accessibility following the channel's removal. The team emphasizes the mod's non-commercial nature, created by fans for fans, and expresses gratitude to the original game's developers, not the publisher. They hope their project might set a precedent for the modding community.

Take-Two's aggressive approach to modding isn't new. They've previously targeted mods for GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, including an AI-powered story mode and a VR mod, respectively. The recent takedown of the Liberty City Preservation Project further highlights this trend. Ironically, Take-Two has a history of hiring talented modders for Rockstar Games, and some removed mods have later been incorporated into official remasters.

A former Rockstar technical director, Obbe Vermeij, defended Take-Two's actions, stating that the company is simply protecting its business interests. He cited the "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" mod as potentially competing with the "Definitive Edition," and the "Liberty City Preservation Project" as potentially interfering with a possible GTA 4 remaster. He suggests that the best hope for the modding community is that Take-Two allows mods that don't directly impact their commercial ventures.

The future of the "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" mod remains uncertain, with the question of whether Take-Two will pursue its removal still unanswered.