There are no shortages of mods released into the marketplace. Sometimes, these mods are praised by the developers who initially brought the games out into the marketplace. Other times, they are removed online from various legal take-down notices. One of the mods that got a sudden boost of interest last week, GTA Vice City Nextgen, seemed to have gone silent. We’re learning today that Take-Two didn’t stop this team from releasing the mod despite reportedly trying to shut the project down.
Revolution Team released a trailer last week to highlight the upcoming release of GTA Vice City Nextgen. This mod brought Grand Theft Auto Vice City into Grand Theft Auto IV, transporting everything from the various missions to music. As a result, it gained a ton of attention, with fans excited to try the game out.
Initially, the developers intended players to own a legit copy of Grand Theft Auto IV on PC to install this mod. However, as you all likely know, the trailer for this game mod and the entire YouTube channel from Revolution Team got removed. A sudden loss of hundreds of hours went down the drain. According to the new YouTube channel, it seems this was done without any warning or attempts by Take-Two Interactive to contact them.
Thanks to Eurogamer, we’re learning that as a result, the team opted to keep their heads down. Instead, they worked on the mod and released it without sudden disruptions. However, they went above and beyond with the release after what they call Take-Two Interactive being cruel.
It seems that after losing all their content, views, and international audience, the modders went through the project and removed the requirement to own a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV. So now the mod is available as a standalone package, where players can download, install, and enjoy the game freely.
Of course, we don’t know how long this mod will be available. Likewise, it might have been a completely different story if Take-Two Interactive had approached the modders directly. At any rate, you can view the new launch trailer below.
Revolution Team Statement From YouTube Trailer Description:
Friends, you’re probably already know that just two days before the release, Take-Two Interactive deleted our YouTube channel without any warning or attempt to contact us.
A huge amount of effort and time was invested into the channel, including hundreds of hours of streams dedicated to the mod’s development. Additionally, we lost connection with our international audience, which was a significant part of our community. The teaser trailer for GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition gained over 100 000 views and 1 500 comments in less than a day. Unfortunately, the channel was removed without any possibility of recovery.
This was a cruel move from them, but we have already accepted the situation, since we cannot influence it. We refrained from commenting, as we weren’t sure what further actions could follow. So, we decided not to take any risks which could disrupt the release.
These past two days have been emotionally tough for our team since we envisioned the release very differently — with a cozy stream dedicated to the long-awaited launch of the mod. But none of that matters anymore.
The most important thing now is that we released the project on the promised date. It’s unclear how long it will remain publicly available or whether there will be demands to take it down. We are not opposed to reuploads, but we cannot openly encourage you to do so. Do as you see fit.
P.S. Initially, the modification was planned to require the original game in order to show respect to the publisher. However, over the past two days, we have completely rebuilt the project, and it is now available as a standalone “installation-ready package”. Just download, install, and play. There are no issues with version compatibility since the mod is now fully autonomous. In light of the current uncertainties, we had to make this change to ensure the mod’s stable performance for the widest possible audience.
