Cryptocurrencies and NFTs are formally not allowed Grand Theft Auto Online‘s popular role playing (RP) servers. That’s according to a new set of guidelines posted on Rockstar’s support site last Friday.
In the note, the game’s publisher says the new RP server rules align with Rockstar’s existing rules for single-player mods. Both sets of rules prohibit content that uses third-party intellectual property rights, interferes with official multiplayer services, or creates new “gameplay, stories, missions, or maps” for the game. This means RP servers based on replication Super Mario Kart in Grand Theft Auto the world, for example, could face “priority in enforcement action” from Rockstar.
But the new RP guidelines supersede the existing single-player mod guidelines by barring “commercial exploitation.” It’s a broad term that Rockstar says specifically includes the sale of loot boxes, virtual currencies, corporate sponsorships or cryptocurrency integrations of “crypto-assets (eg, ‘NFTs’).”
Everything has been done before
The new guidelines appear to be in direct response to “The Trenches,” an RPG community launched in September by OTF Gaming and rapper Lil Durk. That server announced integration with both “endemic and non-endemic marks in the game space” and a “Trenches Pass” NFT drop to access specific content on the server.
“We have been asked to cease all operations of Trenches,” OTF Gaming said in a statement on social media. “We have no choice but to comply with their demands, as we intend to do right by Take-Two and Rockstar. We will work with them to find an amicable resolution to this matter.”
Rockstar has reportedly forced Lil Durk to shut down the GTA Role Play server ‘Trenches’‼️😳 pic.twitter.com/eMlJCGVjUi
— RapTV (@Rap) 20 November 2022
If this situation sounds familiar, it may be because developer Mojang similarly blocked NFT integration from its online servers in July. At the time, Minecraft-based crypto project NFT Worlds said it hoped to work with Mojang to “find an alternative outcome favorable to Minecraft player base.”
Days later, however, NFT Worlds said it was giving up and beginning work on a new game that will be “based on many of the core mechanics of Minecraft” but will be “completely freed from the policy enforcement that Microsoft and Mojang have over Minecraft.”
IN MinecraftMojang said the “scarcity and exclusion” inherent to NFTs “doesn’t add up Minecraft values of creative inclusion and playing together.” That reasoning applies less to GTA Onlinebut a game that raises hundreds of millions of dollars annually by selling in-game currency and exclusive items for player use.
If anything, things like NFTs and loot boxes can be seen as competition GTA Onlineits official effort for revenue generation. With that competition cut, however, Rockstar sounds eager to allow RP servers to continue operating within reason.
“Rockstar Games has always believed in the reasonable creativity of fans and wants creators to showcase their passion for our games,” the company writes. “Third-party ‘Roleplay’ servers are an extension of the rich variety of community-created experiences within Grand Theft Auto which we hope will continue to thrive in a safe and friendly manner for many years to come.”
