Cyberpunk 2077 VR Modder Hit by Another DMCA Strike, Pauses Patreon, Pulls Access to All His Mods, and Declares He's 'Under Attack'

The creator of the Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod CD Projekt precocious deed with a DMCA onslaught has paused his Patreon leafage and pulled entree to each his mods aft receiving different onslaught from a antithetic publisher.

Luke Ross, creator of the R.E.A.L. VR mods for games specified arsenic Elden Ring, Days Gone, and Far Cry, reportedly earns $20,000 a period done Patreon, which acts arsenic a paywall for his work.

He ditched enactment connected his Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod pursuing CD Projekt’s DMCA strike, and has present said helium received different onslaught from steadfast 505 Games for his VR conversion of 2020 first-person cyberpunk enactment crippled Ghostrunner. IGN has asked 505 Games for comment. Ross declined to remark further erstwhile contacted by IGN.

Ross’ Patreon leafage present carries a warning, telling imaginable subscribers that “for the infinitesimal determination volition beryllium nary benefits available.” That means that adjacent if you subscribe to his Patreon, you won’t get entree to immoderate of the much than 40 mods helium has locked down it. Ross said he’ll support his Patreon locked down “until the ineligible concern clears out.” Existing subscriptions volition person their entree extended for 1 period without further payments, Ross said.

Ross deed the headlines this period erstwhile Jan Rosner, VP, Business Development astatine CD Projekt Red, tweeted to accidental the institution issued its DMCA onslaught due to the fact that the Cyberpunk VR was a paid mod, which violates its instrumentality contented guidelines.

“We ne'er let monetization of our IP without our nonstop support and/or an statement successful place,” Rosner said. “We were successful interaction with Luke past week and informed him that helium needs to marque it escaped for everyone (with optional donations) oregon region it.

“We are large fans of mods to our games — immoderate of the enactment retired determination has been thing abbreviated of amazing, including Luke’s mod for Cyberpunk 2077. We’d beryllium blessed to spot it instrumentality arsenic a escaped release. However, making a nett from our IP, successful immoderate form, ever requires support from CD Projekt Red.”

Ross responded to Rosner’s tweet to instrumentality contented with his enactment being characterized arsenic instrumentality content. Rather, Ross insisted, it is autarkic bundle and frankincense does not infringe connected CD Projekt’s IP rights.

“I'm atrocious but I don't judge you are wrong your rights successful demanding that my bundle needs to beryllium free,” Ross said. “It is not ‘derivative work’ oregon ‘fan content’: it supports a ample fig of games which were built upon antithetic engines, and it contains perfectly zero codification oregon assets from your IP. Saying that it infringes your IP rights is equivalent to maintaining for illustration that RivaTuner violates crippled publishers' copyrights due to the fact that it intercepts the images the crippled is drafting connected surface and it processes them successful bid to overlay its statistics.”

Earlier this week, Ross told IGN that radical were present pirating his Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod to “punish” him for breaking CD Projekt's presumption of service.

In a caller station to subscribers, Ross said Patreon automatically complied with 505 Games’ alleged DMCA takedown announcement for his Ghostrunner mod.

“I don't blasted them,” helium continued. “DMCA instrumentality is cautiously worded to springiness infinite powerfulness to large companies, who lone request to constitute connected a gaffe of insubstantial that they ‘believe’ their copyright has been infringed successful bid to nuke from the entity thing they don't similar — and to springiness infinite headaches to creators similar me, who alternatively person the lone recourse of going to court, sustaining immense costs to get done the ineligible process.”

Ross said his Patreon is present nether menace of termination due to the fact that of repeated DMCA strikes, and indispensable “avoid posting worldly that volition taxable your relationship to further claims of copyright infringement."

“In airy of the supra facts, I'm being forced to instrumentality contiguous action,” Ross explained. “I'm making unavailable each versions of the mods and besides each the posts related to the fantastic enactment we person done present unneurotic for years, truthful that determination volition beryllium nary crushed for further claims. And since I cannot halt radical from subscribing without closing down the relationship altogether, I'm making it wide connected the About and Welcome pages that caller subscriptions volition person the lone effect of supporting maine and that nary entree to the 40+ conversions tin oregon volition beryllium provided astatine this time.”

IGN had asked Ross if helium planned to marque the Cyberpunk VR mod free, frankincense complying with CD Projekt’s presumption of service. Responding, Ross said that portion helium wouldn’t regularisation retired doing so, it would beryllium a batch of work.

“I bash not regularisation retired releasing the mod escaped for everyone,” helium said. “But it would instrumentality time, due to the fact that my bundle supports 40+ games and assorted wholly antithetic engines, which makes creating a mentation that specifically supports lone Cyberpunk 2077 a non-trivial task. Also, the radical who person voluntarily fixed their wealth to maine successful bid to enactment my improvement efforts for the model mightiness not beryllium blessed astir seeing the mod being fixed distant each of a abrupt to everyone conscionable due to the fact that I've been bullied into it.”

Ross told subscribers that “people connected the web are thirsty for humor due to the fact that backmost successful the GTA 5 and RDR 2 era, an nonfiction came retired stating that I was raising $20,000 a month.”

He continued: “Is that ‘reasonable’? Assuming that wide the enactment I poured into making my bundle enactment Cyberpunk, turning it into the ‘most immersive gaming experience’ immoderate radical had successful their lives, amounted to a fewer months, accidental $50,000: is that ‘reasonable’ according to the arbitrary criteria of Cyberpunk's publisher? Something tells maine it wouldn't beryllium considered reasonable, contempt being a tiny fraction of the galore millions they would person to put for porting CP2077 to VR themselves, and contempt the information that the outgo was wholly financed by passionate gamers and nary of it was incurred by CD Projekt.

“Hopefully we'll find a mode together, successful the adjacent fewer weeks. But if we can't, we'll ever person the memories of the fantastic times we spent successful those beauteous virtual worlds. Oh and by the way: if you person existing copies of the mods that you downloaded present earlier each this drama, you volition of people beryllium capable to usage them indefinitely and without restrictions, conscionable similar radical person been doing for years with the RDR2 mod, arsenic agelong arsenic the games bash not get breaking updates from the publishers.”

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].