Publisher of GTA, Red Dead Redemption issues a DMCA notice to Luke Ross, creator of VR mods

Luke Ross, operator and creator of RealVR, makes bank on Patreon giving early access to his VR versions of massive games like GTA 5. Now the publishers are coming for him.

Mod developer Luke Ross, who creates VR mods for huge games like Elden Ring and Red Dead Redemption 2, has been targeted by a DMCA claim from publisher Take Two. Should he be forced to acquiesce, it would mean taking down all his mods for GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mafia: Definitive Edition, Mafia II: Definitive Edition, Mafia III: Definitive Edition.

The VR versions of these games developed as mods by Luke Ross are massively popular and allow players to experience games “from the inside” as he puts it. As well as the above, he’s made mods for Dark Souls, Cyberpunk 2077, and many others.

Yesterday, he received a DMCA notice for his Patreon from Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of Rockstar’s world-famous games. He describes it as “demanding that I remove all their copyrighted works from my Patreon page.” However, he contends he doesn’t host any copyrighted materials, only his own code that can be used with legally-purchased versions of the games to enhance the experience.

Ross says he has asked for clarification due to the above, and that Patreon have said they will help him to create a dialogue with the company. “I have no experience with DMCA notices, so I don‘t know whether it will actually be possible to obtain such clarifications and to understand what materials specifically Take-Two believe to be in violation of their rights,” he says.

However, if those clarifications are not forthcoming, Ross has no choice but to take down all content related to Take-Two – some of his most popular mods. “As I always said, if left in the dark I can only err on the side of caution, and I will not risk other games being involved in the purge in case Patreon elects to shut down my page. That means that all posts, images, guides, recommendations, tutorials and above all my VR mods [for Take-Two’s games]” reads his statement.

Ross ends on a rather aggravated note, accusing Take-Two Interactive of being “extremely anti-customer and anti-gamer” if the removal of his mods is their goal. “If what they want is to assert their corporate dominance with gamers‘ interests as collateral damage, I have no power to stop them.”

Ross’ Patreon has 2,350 paying members. The default entry level is $10 USD, and some are likely paying much more. Even if they aren’t, that’s a cool $34k AUD a month he’s taking home, before Patreon’s fees – likely around 10-15%.

Modding has long been a grey area, particularly once it becomes paid. While Ross’ mods are eventually available for free, his content is available early through his Patreon. Once you’re making far, far above average wage in any country likely to house those playing or developing the base game, it’s always going to cause trouble. Doubly so if their corporate overlords believe it’s money they could be making instead.

At time of writing, Ross hasn’t heard any further from Take-Two Interactive.

Written by GLHF.