Rockstar Games has released a statement on Grand Theft Auto game modding on its official support website. The statement was published earlier today.

In the statement the studio states that after discussion, "Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property rights of third parties."

The statement further notes that tools, files, libraries, functions or other modifications affecting multiplayer or online services are not allowed. The use or importation of other game data in third party projects is also prohibited.

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After discussions with Take-Two, Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties.

This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project. This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project.

- Rockstar Games

The statement comes a week after Take-Two Interactive sent a cease and desist letter to the developers of the modding tool OpenIV. It is the first time that the studio has, indirectly, commented on the case.

The modding tool was used by thousands of modders around the world to open and edit the files of the Rockstar Games titles Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto V and Max Payne 3.

The cease-and-desist letter sparked a massive online protest in the review section of Grand Theft Auto V, Grand Theft Auto IV and Kerbal Space Program on Steam, all titles currently published by Take-Two Interactive.

On Steam Grand Theft Auto V has received so many negative reviews in the past week that the title's Steam store listing is currently displaying the red "Overwhelmingly negative" label.

What the statement means for the modding tool is still unknown. The developers of OpenIV have always claimed that the tool does not affect multiplayer, though whether that is actually the case is unknown.

The OpenIV modding team has yet to respond to the statement.