OpenIV developer responds to Rockstar's statement, saying it's "wrong and they know it" (Updated)

Update: Lead developer of OpenIV, GooD-NTS, has issued a statement in response to Rockstar's. His updated post , which includes the screenshot below, reads as follows:

"OpenIV, “Liberty City in GTA V” and all other mods/projects from my team and me are only specific for Single player. Rockstar must be well aware about the fact that you cannot access GTA Online while you have installed any OpenIV mod:

"The statement "Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody", is just wrong and they know it. OpenIV does not allows or supports any kind of GTA Online mods. We always supported Rockstar in their right to protect GTA Online from hacks and cheats. But, Take-Two's C&D was specific for out Singleplayer mods and have no mentions about GTA Online."

Update: Take-Two has declined to comment further.

Original story: Yesterday we reported that the lead developer of OpenIV, a modding tool that has allowed the GTA games to be modded for nearly a decade, had decided to shut down their mod after receiving a cease and desist from Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the Grand Theft auto series.

While we have not received a comment from Take-Two, Rockstar just sent PC Gamer its statement on the matter. Here it is in full:

"Take-Two's actions were not specifically targeting single player mods. Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody. We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players."

We are following up with further questions for Rockstar to try to clarify its position and what may come next for OpenIV and GTA modding.

Currently, OpenIV still works if you have already downloaded it. It no longer appears to be downloadable from its official site, however, as the download link directs you to OpenIV's lead developer's statement on the closure.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.