A group that made GTA Vice City playable in a browser has reported that Take-Two Interactive has shut down the project.
Browser-based emulation is nothing really new at this point. For years, you've been able to play classic games from the comfort of a webpage - but that is usually reserved for games that aren't very taxing, like NES, SNES, and Mega Drive titles. Somehow, though, a group managed to get GTA Vice City running in a web browser – in its original form, which is no longer available to purchase due to the new "The Definitive Edition" release.
The browser version was a small demo that let you provide your game files to play the whole thing, but sadly, that was still apparently too much for the powers that be.
If you go to the GTA: Vice City page on DOS.Zone now, you'll see a message that says, "This game was removed from the website due to a DMCA takedown request from Take-Two." Alongside this message is a screenshot of an email received by web protection company Ebrand, which claims to be acting on "behalf of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc." This email asks the DOS.Zone team to remove everything related to Vice City, noting that if there is a failure to comply, "Take-Two reserves all rights to pursue further legal remedies."
Naturally, the DOS.Zone team complied with the request, meaning that the GTA Vice City browser days were short-lived. A big shame in the case of a game like Vice City, where it is impossible to purchase the original version of the game anymore officially, and even if you do manage to nab an overpriced copy from a key seller, it's still a version of the game that is missing original music.
GTA Tokyo "almost actually happened" until the idea fizzled out: "It doesn't make sense to set it in some left-field location for novelty."
