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      PC players will probably have to wait even longer for Grand Theft Auto VI

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 5 December - 16:03 · 1 minute

    That "Coming 2025" probably won't apply to any PC version.

    Enlarge / That "Coming 2025" probably won't apply to any PC version. (credit: Rockstar)

    PC players will likely have to wait a bit longer than their console counterparts to play the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI . In a press release accompanying last night's earlier-than-scheduled trailer launch , Rockstar specifically says it is "proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto VI is coming to PlayStation 5 computer entertainment systems and Xbox Series X|S games and entertainment systems in 2025."

    The explicit lack of any immediate PC release plans in that statement shouldn't be a shock to longtime Rockstar Games watchers. Sure, the 2D, top-down Grand Theft Auto actually launched on Windows and MS-DOS(!) a few months before the more popular port to PlayStation in 1998. And the game's 1999 sequel debuted on PlayStation and Windows on the same day.

    Since 2000, though, Rockstar has clearly prioritized its console releases over any PC ports. When one of Rockstar's console games is released on the PC, the port tends to come anywhere from five months to over two full years after the first console release, according to an Ars analysis. Even Grand Theft Auto DLC like "The Lost and the Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" hit the PC well after their console launches—420 days and 166 days, respectively.

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      La bande-annonce de GTA 6 est courte : elle fait moins de 2 minutes

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Monday, 4 December - 14:39

    Les métadonnées du YouTube Premiere publié par Rockstar Games le 4 décembre révèle que la bande-annonce de GTA 6 durera 1 minute et 31 secondes. Il faudra sans doute attendre 2024 pour obtenir des informations croustillantes sur le prochain Grand Theft Auto. [Lire la suite]

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      Rockstar Games acquires modding team that it previously banned

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 14 August, 2023 - 15:16 · 1 minute

    Artist's rendering of FiveM operating free and clear as part of Rockstar after years of Rockstar claiming it was "facilitating piracy."

    Enlarge / Artist's rendering of FiveM operating free and clear as part of Rockstar after years of Rockstar claiming it was "facilitating piracy." (credit: FiveM )

    Longtime readers might remember popular Grand Theft Auto V mod FiveM from a 2015 story where Rockstar Games banned the mod's developers, alleging that their work "contains code designed to facilitate piracy." Eight years later, Rockstar is taking a decidedly different tone in announcing that Cfx.re—the mod team behind FiveM and a similar mod for Red Dead Redemption 2 —is now "officially a part of Rockstar Games."

    With no apparent sense of irony, Rockstar said in a Friday blog post announcing the acquisition that it has "watched with excitement as Rockstar’s creative community have found new ways to expand the possibilities of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 , particularly through the creation of dedicated roleplay servers."

    But that statement ignores the distinct lack of excitement Rockstar exhibited when it barred the Rockstar Social Club accounts of many FiveM modders and others associated with promoting the project back in 2015. "Our policy on such violations of our terms of service are clear, and the individuals involved in its creation have had their Social Club accounts suspended," the company said at the time.

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      GTA Cheat Developer Must Pay AU$130,000 for Copyright Infringement

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Tuesday, 20 December, 2022 - 21:05 · 2 minutes

    In recent years, game companies have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against alleged cheaters, cheat makers, and sellers.

    GTA V developer Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive were among the first to go down this path four years ago.

    Infamous Lawsuit

    In 2018, the game companies filed a lawsuit in Australia , targeting several people believed to be linked to the popular “Infamous” cheating mod.

    This lawsuit stood out because the Federal Court of Australia signed off on several broad enforcement actions. Not only were the defendants restrained from any cheating-related activity, they were also the subject of a search and assets freezing order.

    With the orders in hand, a search party was permitted to enter several buildings and search, copy, or remove evidence including any computers and documents that were linked to the alleged offenses.

    infamous cheat

    The initial court documents listed the names of several people involved, which likely included aliases. As the case developed, Christopher Anderson emerged as the sole defendant.

    Anderson is also the person who had several items seized from his home, including laptops, an iPad and an iPhone. In addition, PayPal froze the developer’s funds, which presumably included profits from the cheating business.

    Liable for Copyright Infringement

    After the early fireworks, the case proceeded quietly in the background, while confidential filings kept the general public out of the loop. One of the key rulings was handed down last year, with the Federal Court concluding that Anderson infringed GTA 5’s copyrights.

    Justice Nicholas ruled that Anderson infringed Take Two’s copyrights by copying substantial parts of the GTA V software and authorizing cheat users to reproduce content without permission.

    In addition, the developer and users of the “Infamous” mod breached the software’s license agreement and terms of service.

    gta order

    The court order also instructed both camps to reach an agreement on the profits generated from sales of cheats, plus interest, which Anderson should pay to Rockstar and Take-Two.

    AU$130,000 Profits and Interest

    After more than a year, both sides eventually agreed that the profits and interest add up to AU$130,000 (~$86,000). In an order issued law month, Justice Nicholas writes that Anderson must pay this amount within 30 days.

    The “Infamous” website went offline years ago and, as far as we know, never made a comeback. The court previously clarified that Anderson should destroy all copies. In addition, he must do everything possible to make previously sold cheats inoperable.

    “[Defendant shall do] all things necessary and desirable that are within his power to do to cause the Infamous Mod to be made permanently inoperable, including but not limited to permanently disabling any authentication service upon which the Infamous Mod relies,” Justice Nicholas wrote.

    A copy of the Federal Court’s order requiring the payment of AU$130,000 in profits and interest is available here (pdf) .

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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      OG GTA Dev: Rockstar Hit My GTA Prototype Videos With DMCA Notices

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Monday, 22 August, 2022 - 17:15 · 3 minutes

    gta-wasted It’s no longer a surprise when big videogame developers take escalating legal action against fan coders. Nintendo, for example, has a long history of stomping on projects on the basis they infringe intellectual property rights.

    From Nintendo’s perspective, there’s nothing to discuss. It enjoys the full support of the law when it decides to protect its intellectual property rights, game over. From the side of fans who love Nintendo’s work so much that they spend years of their lives paying tribute to its work, it tends to feel a bit different.

    The same is true for people who decide to fix bugs in games like GTA by giving them a major overhaul, completely free of charge. At a moment’s notice, they can find themselves being sued, with much of the gaming community looking on, asking: “Really?”

    On a Scale of One to Petty, Things Can Get Worse

    Mike Dailly is the designer of Lemmings, a game that appeared in most Commodore Amiga owners’ collections during the early 90s. The game was created by DMA Design, which began as a four-man development team featuring Dailly and former classmates David Jones, Russell Kay, and Steve Hammond.

    DMA Design is known today as Rockstar North, a brand synonymous with Grand Theft Auto, one of the most famous game series of all time. GTA’s roots reach all the way back to the game’s first iteration in 1997, which was developed by DMA Design and powered by Mike Dailly’s graphics engine.

    A quarter of a century is not only a huge slice of videogame history, it’s a culturally significant period deserving of preservation. Unfathomably, however, it seems that Rockstar has decided that pieces of that history should be erased from Dailly’s YouTube channel, even though it relates directly to his work on the original GTA.

    Rockstar Strikes GTA Prototype Videos

    Dailly isn’t known for sugarcoating his opinions, so when Rockstar targeted videos on his channel, it was only a matter of time before he made that public. On Sunday he took to Twitter and did just that.

    “I see Rockstar are going full fuckers mode again, issuing copyright strikes to any GTA video they can find – including both my prototype videos. So now they’re trying to block all release of anyone’s work on a game – and any old development footage,” he wrote .

    Dailly’s YouTube channel is a step back in time with a future twist, perfect for those who love videogame history but want to drive the artform forward. There’s even a video of DMA Design’s 1993 Christmas party and a tour of their offices .

    Anyone wanting to see the GTA prototype videos will, of course, be disappointed. The videos are relatively easy to find elsewhere using basic search skills but, those happy to see how Dailly’s uploads used to appear on YouTube, a screenshot should suffice.

    Dailly says that Rockstar’s complaints to YouTube carried an explanation for the takedowns. According to them, Dailly did not obtain permission from Rockstar to post development footage. Busted.

    Friction Between Rockstar and Coding Veteran

    The GTA prototype videos posted by Dailly were part of a series of similar posts related to the early development of GTA. But last evening Dailly decided he must resign history to history, adding that all of his posts had been deleted and he wouldn’t be posting any further information.

    “For those asking – yes, I’ve now removed all GTA dev stuff. Only direct examples of my own work are left – work that was never used in GTA, but ‘inspired’ parts of its evolution. You can thank Rocksuck,” he added .

    While there’s no reason to think he’ll go back on his word, Dailly isn’t easily silenced. An hour later he tweeted what appears to be the front cover of GTA game design recommendations report, adding that it would never see the light of day.

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.