A Russian modding team, Revolution Team, has released its "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" mod despite Take-Two Interactive's efforts to remove related YouTube content. This ambitious project transplants Vice City's world, cutscenes, and missions into the GTA 4 engine.

The modders' YouTube channel was unexpectedly deleted by Take-Two, resulting in the loss of a substantial audience and hundreds of hours of streamed development footage. Despite this setback, the team pressed on, releasing the mod as planned. Initially intended to require a legitimate copy of GTA 4, the mod is now available as a standalone installer to ensure wider accessibility, given the uncertain future of its availability.

Revolution Team emphasizes the mod's non-commercial nature, stating it was created by fans for fans and expressing gratitude to the original game's developers, not the publisher. They hope their project will set a precedent for the modding community.

Take-Two's actions are consistent with its history of aggressively pursuing takedowns of mods that it perceives as threatening its business interests. This includes previous instances involving AI-powered GTA 5 mods, a Red Dead Redemption 2 VR mod, and the Liberty City Preservation Project. Interestingly, Take-Two has also been known to hire talented modders, and some takedowns have preceded Rockstar's own remasters of the affected games.

A former Rockstar technical director, Obbe Vermeij, defended Take-Two's actions, highlighting the company's responsibility to protect its commercial interests. He pointed out that the "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" directly competes with the "Definitive Edition," and projects like the Liberty City Preservation Project could potentially interfere with a future GTA 4 remaster. Vermeij suggested that the best outcome would be for Take-Two to tolerate mods that don't directly impact its sales, citing the "GTA 3 for Dreamcast" mod as a positive example.

The question remains: will Take-Two attempt to remove the "GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition" mod itself? The future of this fan-made project hangs in the balance.