GTA Vice City Temporarily Available in Browsers Before Take-Two Steps In

A team that successfully brought GTA Vice City to the browser has announced that their project has been shut down by Take-Two Interactive.

Browser emulation isn’t a novel concept; for years, gamers have enjoyed classic titles directly from their web browsers, typically focusing on less demanding games like those from the NES, SNES, and Mega Drive eras. However, this group managed to get GTA Vice City running in a browser in its original form, which is no longer available for purchase due to the release of “The Definitive Edition.”

The browser version was a limited demo that allowed players to upload their game files to access the full experience, but it seems that was still too much for the powers that be.

Visiting the GTA: Vice City page on DOS.Zone now reveals a message stating, “This game was removed from the website due to a DMCA takedown request from Take-Two.” Accompanying this notice is a screenshot of an email from a web protection company, claiming to act on behalf of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. This email requests the removal of all Vice City-related content, warning that failure to comply could lead to further legal action.

As a result, the DOS.Zone team complied, marking the end of the brief browser experience for GTA Vice City. It’s particularly disappointing for fans of the game, especially since the original version is no longer officially available, and even if you find a copy from a third-party seller, it often lacks the 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.”