When popular Grand Theft Auto V modding tool OpenIV was taken down by a cease-and-desist request from publisher Take-Two earlier this month, the fan reaction was fast and blistering. Players bombarded Grand Theft Auto V with thousands of negative reviews on Steam , and over 77,000 people signed an online petition demanding the tool be restored.

Apparently, those gamers' cries have been heard loud and clear. As of yesterday evening, OpenIV is once again being updated and distributed by its creators.

While publisher Take-Two has been going after cheating tools in GTA Online of late, developer Rockstar long ago said it wouldn't go after Grand Theft Auto V players for using single-player mods. That's why Take-Two's sudden legal threat against the single-player-focused OpenIV earlier this month was a bit surprising, to say the least.

In a statement to Ars at the time, Rockstar explained that "unfortunately, OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody." OpenIV creator Yuriy "Good-NDS" Krivoruchko conceded in an interview with Motherboard that some modders were indeed using OpenIV to cheat at the online portion of the game, a use case he said he had no interest in enabling.

Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games. After discussions with Take-Two, Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties. This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project. This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project. 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.

Since then, Rockstar tells Rock Paper Shotgun they have been in touch with Krivoruchko and coordinated an OpenIV update that ensures the modding tool can't be used in GTA Online, leading to its restoration online. And in a new statement , Rockstar and Take-Two reaffirmed their general commitment to allowing single-player mods in the game:

That big block of legalese gives Rockstar and Take-Two the right to change their mind about this laissez-faire attitude towards modding at any time, of course. For now, though, we're glad all sides seem to have come to an understanding that let single-player modding continue while working to protect the GTA Online experience.