Rockstar bans NFTs in new GTA Online roleplay server rules

Rockstar Games has clarified what it will and won't allow Grand Theft Auto Online players to do on roleplay servers.

On Friday, the developer posted a new statement to its support page confirming that third-party roleplay servers – in which players choose to immerse themselves in the role of someone living in the game world, behaving like a police officer or taxi driver (for example) – are permitted.

"Rockstar Games has always believed in reasonable fan creativity and wants creators to showcase their passion for our games," the company wrote. "Third-party 'roleplay' servers are an extension of the rich array of community-created experiences within Grand Theft Auto that we hope will continue to thrive in a safe and friendly way for many years to come."

However, the company said that under publisher Take-Two's legal enforcement policy, some actions and behaviour will not be allowed.

One section covered what Rockstar referred to as "commercial exploitation." Players are not permitted to sell loot boxes for real-world currency or GTA's virtual money, sell other virtual currencies, or integrate cryptocurrencies and crypt assets, such as NFTs.

Players are also not allowed to generate revenue from their servers via in-game integrations or corporate sponsorships.

Both Rockstar and Take-Two will also clamp down on:

• Misuse of Rockstar's intellectual property and trademarks
• Importing and misusing other IP, including characters owned by other companies, real-world brands, trademarks and even music
• Making new games, stories, missions or maps for GTA Online
• Interfering with the official multiplayer servers and online services that Rockstar operates, including GTA Online and Red Dead Online

"This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project," the company concluded.

"Take-Two reserves the right to object to any third-party project, or to revise, revoke and/or withdraw this statement at any time in their own discretion. This statement does not constitute a waiver of any rights that Take-Two may have with respect to third-party projects."

Rockstar is not the first to take a stance against the use of NFTs around its games. Back in July, Mojang stated players are forbidden from integrating NFTs and blockchain technologies into Minecraft.

Meanwhile, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney spoke out on Twitter against people creating unofficial Fortnite NFTs around his company's popular battle royale game. However, Epic is not entirely against the technology, allowing developers to sell games that use NFTs on its Epic Games Store (unlike main rival Steam).