Free GTA Vice City Browser Game Removed, Take-Two Provides Full Explanation

Take-Two Interactive has decided to spoil everyone’s Christmas fun this year, by issuing a take-down notice against a very impressive fan-made browser port of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Last week, we covered a story that frankly broke my mind a little bit; a team by the name of The Dos Zone managed to port the entirety of Rockstar Games’ 2002 open-world classic Grand Theft Auto: Vice City… to web browsers.

I cannot even begin to imagine how much effort something like this took to make. Especially because, after trying it out for myself, the performance seemed borderline flawless. I connected a controller to the site and whizzed around Vice City for a few minutes, and it honestly seemed akin to how I remember the game running on official PS2 hardware.

Sounds great, right? Well, unfortunately, if you’re only finding out about this today (24 December), then I have some very bad news for you.

If heading over to where The Dos Zone used to host their browser port of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the project has since been taken down following threats of legal action by a representative of Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar and the GTA franchise.

Promo image from Grand Theft Auto Vice City's Definitive Edition, Rockstar Games

Sharing an email from a business by the name of EBRAND, who state that their service 'boosts and protects digital businesses' on their official website, emailed The Dos Team on behalf of Take-Two Interactive and requested that the team either 'disable or shut down' the project.

They state that this is in part due to The Dos Team’s use of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's 'game artwork, logos, and branding', and threatened 'legal remedies' should the team not comply.

Funnily enough, I kind of assumed that The Dos Team may technically have been able to get away with their Grand Theft Auto: Vice City browser port, as you were required to upload a legitimate copy of the game to their website to play through it properly.

It’s a shame that all their hard work will go to waste, but I have a feeling that The Dos Team knew that something like this would happen eventually.

Take-Two aren’t quite on Nintendo’s level when it comes to IP protection, but they have still be criticised for pursuing legal take downs like this for mods and fan made projects in the past.

Ultimately, there’s not really much that a small team of enthusiasts can do against T2's mighty legal army. We doubt that free projects like this earn them any money, but it still sucks regardless.

Hopefully, the browser port pops up in some way again in the future, but I won’t hold my breath.