CD Projekt Hits Paid Cyberpunk 2077 VR Mod With DMCA Strike After Creator Refused Request to Make It Free for Everyone

CD Projekt has confirmed it issued a DMCA onslaught connected a paid Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod, aft its creator refused to marque it escaped for everyone upon the studio’s request.

The R.E.A.L. VR mod for Cyberpunk 2077 was created by Luke Ross, who, according to a 2022 study by The Verge, makes $20,000 a period modding PC games to tally successful VR headsets. His mods are locked down a Patreon, which sparked CD Projekt’s concern.

In a tweet, Jan Rosner, VP, Business Development astatine CD Projekt Red, said the institution issued the DMCA onslaught due to the fact that Cyberpunk VR was a paid mod, which violates its instrumentality contented guidelines.

“We ne'er let monetization of our IP without our nonstop support and/or an statement successful place,” Rosner said. “We were successful interaction with Luke past week and informed him that helium needs to marque it escaped for everyone (with optional donations) oregon region it.

“We are large fans of mods to our games — immoderate of the enactment retired determination has been thing abbreviated of amazing, including Luke’s mod for Cyberpunk 2077. We’d beryllium blessed to spot it instrumentality arsenic a escaped release. However, making a nett from our IP, successful immoderate form, ever requires support from CD Projekt Red.”

Ross responded to Rosner’s tweet to instrumentality contented with his enactment being characterized arsenic instrumentality content. Rather, Ross insisted, it is autarkic bundle and frankincense does not infringe connected CD Projekt’s IP rights.

“I'm atrocious but I don't judge you are wrong your rights successful demanding that my bundle needs to beryllium free,” Ross said. “It is not ‘derivative work’ oregon ‘fan content’: it supports a ample fig of games which were built upon antithetic engines, and it contains perfectly zero codification oregon assets from your IP. Saying that it infringes your IP rights is equivalent to maintaining for illustration that RivaTuner violates crippled publishers' copyrights due to the fact that it intercepts the images the crippled is drafting connected surface and it processes them successful bid to overlay its statistics.”

Ross went connected to accidental helium wants to find a “win-win solution,” and suggested CD Projekt marque his Cyberpunk VR mod official, “or astatine slightest sanctioned by your company.” He added: “I deliberation the existent authorities of affairs is not the champion mode to resoluteness this misunderstanding.”

As it stands, Ross has near his Cyberpunk VR mod down (in a station connected Patreon, Ross said, “So long, and acknowledgment for each the fish,”), and helium has pulled enactment for the game. Ross’ tweet present has sparked a statement astir the ineligible implications of his mod, a constituent helium expanded connected successful a station connected Patreon:

“As accustomed they agelong the conception of ‘derivative work’ until it's paper-thin, arsenic though a strategy that allows visualizing 40+ games successful afloat immersive 3D VR was someway built making usage of their intelligence property,” helium said. “And arsenic accustomed they springiness perfectly zero f***s astir however playing their crippled successful VR made radical happy, and they cannot conscionable beryllium grateful astir the other copies of the rubric they sold due to the fact that of that — without ever having to determination wealth into producing an authoritative conversion (no, they're not readying to merchandise their ain VR port, successful lawsuit you were wondering).

“The bottommost enactment is each that matters, and gamers beryllium damned.

“Am I a small bitter astir each of this? Yeah, you stake I am. Especially successful the aforesaid week erstwhile Meta pulls the plug connected 3 large VR studios. Especially aft 4 years during which I (together with different modders) spent truthful overmuch clip keeping our mods live successful spite of CDPR's changeless breaking updates. Especially erstwhile they ne'er adjacent knew oregon cared during each this clip that the VR conversion was there, and are lone knee-jerk reacting present due to the fact that idiosyncratic reported to them that it existed and it was not free.”

This is not the archetypal clip Ross has been deed by a DMCA strike. In July 2022, Rockstar Games genitor institution Take-Two issued a DMCA announcement against Ross for his GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 VR mods, among others. He made a akin statement against the determination backmost then, insisting "none of my modifications are built utilizing bundle belonging to Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc, and the modifications are not intended to regenerate their games, nor are they a means of exploiting Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's proprietary IP oregon assets."

Cyberpunk is conscionable 1 of a fig of games for which Ross has released VR mods, and helium sounds undeterred by CD Projekt’s enactment here. Ross already has VR mods for the likes of Sony’s Days Gone, FromSoftware’s Elden Ring, and Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5 games. Now he’s turning his attraction to Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].