#GamingBytes: Grand Theft Auto Publisher wins an injunction against hacker
What's the story
Take-Two Interactive, the parent company behind the popular game Grand Theft Auto 5, were granted a temporary injunction against a Georgia man, David Zipperer, to stop the sale of two mods. The injunction was granted by a US District Court. This is the latest step by a gaming company to stop players from cheating others in the online version of a game.
Rationale
Tough stances and crackdowns against cheat makers
Take-Two alleges that David infringed its copyrights. He was the brains behind the popular Menyoo and Absolute mods. Notably, David was cooperative when the company had asked him to take down Menyoo, but then violated the trust with the Absolute mod. As a result, it sought damages worth $500,000 and asked that the mods be taken down. The judge only granted the latter.
Details
What do the hacks do?
Gamers won't be able to use the hacks now, but here is what they did. They changed parts of the code to allow players receive advantages like super-speed, unlimited cash and ammo. The unlimited cash cheat led to the company losing revenue. Since it sells in-game cash for real currency, these hacks disrupt the process and allow gamers to violate the game's terms.
Force Hax
No cheaters, no cry
David is not the first person who has come in the radar of Take-Two. OpenIV, a tool available to offline players, was shut down after being threatened with a legal notice. Further, Force Hax, a group that called itself the dark side of GTA 5 mod tools, closed after talks with Take-Two. They also had to donate the proceeds from the hack to charity.