CD Projekt Slaps DMCA on Cyberpunk 2077 VR Mod After Creator Declines Free Release

CD Projekt has slapped a DMCA on a Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod after its creator refused to make it free for everyone.

Despite its troublesome launch in 2020, particularly on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, I think it’s fair to say that Cyberpunk 2077, the sci-fi RPG from developers CD Projekt RED, is one of the biggest gaming success stories in recent years.

Following a wealth of free content updates and The Phantom Liberty expansion, Cyberpunk 2077 is pretty much the experience that was promised when it was announced in 2012. Granted, you still might want to stay clear of the last-gen version, but on PC and current-gen consoles, causing mayhem in Night City is a blast.

CDPR Bans Cyberpunk 2077 VR Mod

In 2021, CD Projekt RED announced official mod support for Cyberpunk 2077 with ‘REDmod’.

Before this point, modders were already doing a great job creating new missions, improving gameplay, the visuals and performance or general quality-of-life improvements. However, with this official support, creators now have even more tools at their disposal.

Typically, mods are free. Though some creators might hide certain mods behind a paywall, such as a Patreon or hint towards a financial tip to give thanks for their hard work. Usually, you don't pay outright to access a mod, as you might do with officially released DLC from a developer or publisher.

Screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt

As reported by IGN, publisher CD Projekt has issued a DMCA strike against the ‘R.E.A.L. VR’ mod created by Luke Ross, after reportedly refusing to make the mod free for everyone.

The vice president of business development at CD Projekt, Jan Rosner, addressed the VR mod being taken down in a statement published on Twitter.

“I’d like to briefly address the discussion around the ‘Cyberpunk VR’ mod created by Luke Ross. We have indeed issued a DMCA strike, as it was available as a paid mod (only accessible to Patreon subscribers).

“This directly violates our Fan Content Guidelines: we never allow monetisation of our IP without our direct permission and/or an agreement in place,” he said.

Rosner went on to say that contact was made with Luke Ross about making the mod free for everyone to access with optional donations in place, and stated that no one is allowed to profit on its IP in any way without permission.

Luke Ross Responds to CDPR

“Thank you, Jan. I'm sorry, but I don't believe you are within your rights in demanding that my software needs to be free. It is not ‘derivative work’ or ‘fan content’: it supports a large number of games which were built upon different engines, and it contains absolutely zero code or assets from your IP,” tweeted Ross in response.

“Saying that it infringes your IP rights is equivalent to maintaining, for example, that RivaTuner violates game publishers' copyrights because it intercepts the images the game is drawing on screen and it processes them to overlay its statistics.”

Hopefully, this issue is resolved amicably, because some of Luke Ross’ mods are fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 is out now on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2.