Rockstar has acquired Cfx.re, the team behind two of the largest Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption roleplay and modding communities, FiveM and RedM.
FiveM and RedM have long provided fans with unofficial roleplay servers, keeping GTA and Red Dead vibrant for years since their most recent releases. Now under the Rockstar umbrella, the studio says it aims to "improve the services" that Cfx.re supplies - perhaps hinting at some kind of official roleplay or mod integration in future games like GTA 6.
"Today, we are proud to announce that Cfx.re - the team behind the biggest Rockstar roleplay and creator communities, FiveM and RedM - are now officially a part of Rockstar Games," reads a blog post from Rockstar.
"By partnering with the Cfx.re team, we will help them find new ways to support this incredible community and improve the services they provide to their developers and players."
For any of you out of the loop, roleplaying in Rockstar games refers to playing them however you want. Whether you want to be a cop or just a regular NPC, fans unlock the games' potential through mods and dedicated online communities. Given the long wait in between Rockstar releases, these services have been incredibly helpful.
Cfx.re has also released a statement, explaining what this means for its own fans. "While our day-to-day operations won’t have any noticeable changes, with Rockstar’s support, we are going to continue to improve our platform and we are truly excited for what this means for our users, community, and creators,."
The statement closes off by asking fans to "not ask us about the next GTA", so it seems the team is eager to quickly dispel any rumours that it will be working on GTA 6. With that being said, this acquisition is a clear signal that Rockstar values the community's work, which could indicate what kind of approach it will take with GTA's future.
This is a far cry from the harsh treatment of modders during the runup to the infamous GTA Trilogy's announcement and release. Without warning, GTA remaster mods were threatened with legal action by Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two, despite the mods needing a purchase of the original games to function. This is what tipped fans off to the existence of an official GTA Trilogy remaster. Unfortunately, when it launched, it left a lot to be desired, full of bugs, performance issues, and poor visuals. This fanbase's response to both this and the treatment of modders was largely negative, so it's no surprise that today's news is being met with praise.