Improved GTA 3 and Vice City are available again, it’s just a matter of time

Earlier this year, a group of enthusiasts managed to copy GTA 3 and GTA: Vice City by reverse engineering. This gave us improved versions of these games for the PC, with support for modern controllers, widescreen performance, better graphics, etc. It also opened up the possibility of playing these games on consoles where this is not possible (eg modern Nintendo Switch or PS Vita).

But as soon as word got out about the re3 and reVC projects, the owners of the GTA franchise threatened to sue so both projects had to be removed from circulation. Their creators expected something like this to happen, but they didn’t give up on everything. After months of silence, they have on several occasions filed counterclaims that Take-Two prohibits them from distributing what they have come to through the legal practice of reverse engineering.

Initially, the files for re3 and reVC projects were published on GitHub, where the rule was that the removed files must be returned to circulation within 10 to 14 days if there is no court dispute after the counterclaim. Take-Two has not filed a lawsuit so far, so re3 and reVC are available for download again.

Reverse software engineering is permitted under U.S. law provided that the goal of that process is to make the software more useful. The creators of the re3 and reVC projects have argued that it is being fixed and improved by GTA 3 and GTA: Vice City, allowing them to play on multiple platforms. As a potential reason why Take-Two may have dropped the lawsuit, the creators of these projects see that it brings them profit.

To use re3 and reVC, players must have their copy of the game for the PC, and the team believes their projects give people a reason to buy the game.

“Our works are the reason a lot of people buy the game from Take-Two to play it on their favorite platforms. We make money for them and we realized that it would not be wise for them to persecute us. " - said one of the project leaders.

Of course, the fact that Take-Two has not yet taken any action on this issue does not necessarily mean that it will remain so. So, if you haven’t already, download these things before they disappear again.