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Take-Two Interactive takes down another ‘GTA Online’ modder, seeks $150K

Aaron Mamiit
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Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, continues its crackdown on GTA Online modders with a new lawsuit that seeks $150,000 in damages.

Mods in GTA Online, the online component of Grand Theft Auto V, allow players to cheat and gain unfair advantages over other players. Take-Two has recently ramped up its actions against GTA Online mods, with the latest lawsuit filed against the creator of a software named Elusive.

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Take-Two has sued Florida resident Jhonny Perez for copyright infringement for his role in the creation and distribution of Elusive, which was sold for between $10 to $30.

“In essence, Defendant is free riding on Take-Two’s intellectual property to sell a commercial product that interferes with the carefully orchestrated and balanced gameplay that Take-Two created for its players,” the publisher said in the court filing.

Take-Two previously reached out to Perez to ask for detailed financial statements to come up with a fair settlement. However, Perez reportedly failed to provide the documents and eventually stopped responding to communications, which pushed Take-Two to proceed with default judgment.

The software company is now seeking $150,000 in damages, as well as about $70,000 in legal fees, after it was estimated that Elusive caused $500,000 in damages to the publisher. Take-Two is also seeking an injunction against Perez to end his career as a mod creator for the publisher’s games.

Take-Two does not really need the cash, as Grand Theft Auto V is still making money four years after its release with the help of GTA Online. The amount, however, may make modders think twice about continuing their business of destroying the game’s balance.

The lawsuit against Perez, which was filed in August, follows an injunction against Georgia resident David Zipperer that was handed down that same month. Zipperer, the modder behind Menyoo and Absolute, is no longer allowed to create or sell mods for Grand Theft Auto V and GTA Online.

Take-Two, on the other hand, is no stranger to being on the other end of legal actions, though a four-year lawsuit finally came to an end in March. The New York Court of Appeals ended actress Lindsay Lohan’s case that Grand Theft Auto V character Lacey Jonas was based on her likeness.

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Grand Theft Auto fans have convinced themselves that a new entry in the series has been on the way for some time. As far back as February 2015, less than a year-and-a-half after GTA V's launch, speculation about a new entry in the series has existed online. From theory posts to bad 4Chan leaks trying to pass as real, we've seen plenty of speculation about GTA 6 and how Rockstar would go about revealing it.
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