The release of Grand Theft Auto VI is approaching, but the legal department of Take-Two / Rockstar Games has not forgotten about another franchise — Red Dead Redemption 2.
In September, a fan-made expansion for RDR 2 titled “Nuevo Paraiso - The Forgotten Frontier” was released, inviting players to explore three regions of Nuevo Paraíso: “From towns returning from the first Red Dead Redemption to expanded areas with new fauna and vegetation that breathed life and added detail into the state of Nuevo Paraíso.”
The project attracted a great deal of attention not only from the gaming community, but also from lawyers.
In early November, a modder going by the handle Rixus revealed that he had received a “nastygram” — lawyers demanded that he halt development of Nuevo Paraiso. He has already taken down the project from Nexus Mods:
Hi everyone. I received a cease and desist notification (“C&D”) from Take-Two. I was asked to take down all my mods containing content related to the first Red Dead Redemption — including the Mexico mod and others, even those that are still in development or awaiting updates.
Overall, Take-Two has the right to shut down such projects. Previously, Rockstar stipulated rules barring mods that alter the story:
Do not expand or modify official plots, stories, missions, characters, and other elements of the established Rockstar Games continuum.
However, Red Dead Redemption 2 fans are unhappy with Take-Two's decision, since the company releases no new content for the single-player game, yet forbids fans from creating it themselves.