An unofficial fan project to bring the originalRed Dead Redemptionto PC is being sued byTake-Two Interactive. Take-Two filed its suit in New York the day after Christmas, citing 11 different individuals involved with the project. Take-Two claims that it “repeatedly” warned the project runner to cease and desist, but that development persisted. While the project runner, known to be one Johnathan Wyckoff, hasn’t offered a comment about the lawsuit, the official webpage for the project has recently been labeled as “Cancelled.”
According to the lawsuit, Take-Two is targeting three different facets of the project. The first targets the Red Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Project, said to be usingGrand Theft Auto 5assets to port and improve the originalRed Dead Redemptionfor PC. The second refers to a second project that usesRed Dead Redemption 2’s PC assets to port and improves the original game. And third, the lawsuit claims that Wyckoff was directly profiting off of the project through donations on their social media and streaming accounts, as well as a Patreon account.
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News broke about Take-Two trying to shut down theRed Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Projectthrough a cease and desist order in September. At the time, the project claimed to be porting a modified version of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game to PC. While the project’s development was initially said to be stopped, development continued with Wyckoff arguing that he and his lawyer believed it to be legal.
In a November video posted to Youtube, Wyckoff claimed that Take-Two’s EULA allows forsingle-player modslike the one he was working on. Through the video, Wyckoff requests funding to support both the PC port projects forRed Dead Redemptionand his legal efforts against Take-Two. Wyckoff also threatened a countersuit tied to harassment and emotional damages. In September, Wyckoff said that Take-Two lawyers had “done shady stuff getting my private info and contacted my family.”
As mentioned, Wyckoff has updated the project’s page on theGTAVforums to now say “Cancelled.” However, once circumstances have reached a point where lawsuits are filed, they’re difficult to renege on. Given than Wyckoff has previously claimed that development on his projects was canceled, but then continued, Take-Two seems unlikely to trust in his compliance. Sadly, modders rarely, if ever, have the standing tofight against publishers' lawsuits. Expect further information as the case progresses in 2020.
Red Dead Redemptionis available now on PS3 and Xbox 360.
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