Under attack
If you have been following VR news, you will already know that on January 9, 2026, multibillion-dollar company CD PROJEKT S.A. fired a DMCA notice targeting my Patreon, demanding the takedown of my VR mod for Cyberpunk 2077 "because access to the mod is paid".
The notice came out of the blue, after almost 4 years of absolute silence from the company, despite my early attempts, dating as far back as 2022, to reach an agreement with them in order to make the conversion official or at least officially sanctioned.
Patreon complied with the request right away, taking the mod down before even informing me. When I found out what had happened, I immediately contacted the legal department at CD PROJEKT S.A., but again received zero response. Later on I found a way to get in touch with their VP of business development, who replied politely but without addressing my attempts at finding a solution that would not be hurtful for CP2077 gamers and VR lovers; after a week, and upon further prompting on my side, their legal department finally replied by saying that they had "no objection to [the] mod being made available again, provided that it is offered entirely free of charge".
You can find more details here, and if you want to get even more depressed you can also read about the rampant piracy of my software that immediately followed as a consequence of CD PROJEKT's actions, before I could even have a chance to figure out how to make a special version of the framework that provided freebie conversion for CP2077 without impacting all the other supported games. The haters of VR, and defenders of some God-given right to free mods for commercial games, found me guilty and sentenced us to be punished by taking away what we had worked for.
Despite Flat2VR swiftly pouncing to pitch a "proper" conversion done by their Flat2VRStudios, CDPR has not responded. Who knows, maybe they are worried about the comparison to their Viture x Cyberpunk, AI-driven 3D-conversion glasses. Maybe there is too much difference yet between AI-faked 3D and actual stereo VR rendering. I have no idea.
Domino effect
Fast forward to today, and another publisher just sent a DMCA takedown notice to Patreon: namely 505 Games, for my VR conversion of Ghostrunner. No mention of any terms of service violation this time. Again Patreon automatically complied. I don't blame them; DMCA law is carefully worded to give infinite power to big companies, who only need to write on a slip of paper that they "believe" their copyright has been infringed in order to nuke from the sky anything they don't like—and to give infinite headaches to creators like me, who instead have the only recourse of going to court, sustaining huge costs to get through the legal process.
But as a consequence, "[...] Patreon, in accord with copyright law, will terminate accounts that are the subject of repeated, compliant notifications of claimed copyright infringement. Thus, it is important that you avoid posting material that will subject your account to further claims of copyright infringement."
Please note the wording. It doesn't matter whether I'm guilty or not of copyright infringement; my account (and the investment you made with your hard earned money in supporting me) can be vaporized discretionarily just because of "claims".
What happens now?
In light of the above facts, I'm being forced to take immediate action. I'm making unavailable all versions of the mods and also all the posts related to the wonderful work we have done here together for years, so that there will be no ground for further claims. And since I cannot stop people from subscribing without closing down the account altogether, I'm making it clear on the About and Welcome pages that new subscriptions will have the only effect of supporting me and that no access to the 40+ conversions can or will be provided at this time.
You don't need to unsubscribe: I paused the billing cycle for one month so that your pledges will NOT be renewed automatically, and those of you who are already subscribed will have their access extended for one month without further payments. I hope one month will be enough for the fog to clear up, and to understand what is going to happen to our collective attempt to make VR available for AAA games. To boldly go where no publisher wants to go (or to let us go) anymore.
Note that making the mod freely available is by no means the clear-cut solution that people on the Internet would make it to be, because DMCA superpowers given to big companies and payments/donations needed for complex projects like this one are two completely unrelated matters. We have direct proof of that, as you'll remember that Take-Two included in their takedown request also my GTA V mod which had always been completely free (I never even accepted donations for that one).
Speaking of which, CD PROJEKT S.A. says that fans can accept "reasonable" donations for their mods. But what is "reasonable"? I was quoted several times during these past few years that producing a full-fledged VR conversion for a triple-A game requires an investment in the order of several million dollars (if the original engine team is still available and not already disbanded or busy with the next project, and if the artists are still working on the game assets), up to tens of millions if a new team has to learn the ropes and intricacies of the engine and new artists or specialized tools are required to change the graphics assets and animations.
People on the web are thirsty for blood because back in the GTA V and RDR 2 era, an article came out stating that I was raising $20,000 a month. Is that "reasonable"? Assuming that overall the work I poured into making my software support Cyberpunk, turning it into the "most immersive gaming experience" some people had in their lives, amounted to a few months, say $50,000: is that "reasonable" according to the arbitrary criteria of Cyberpunk's publisher? Something tells me it wouldn't be considered reasonable, despite being a tiny fraction of the many millions they would have to invest for porting CP2077 to VR themselves, and despite the fact that the cost was entirely financed by passionate gamers and none of it was incurred by CD PROJEKT.
Hopefully we'll find a way together, in the next few weeks. But if we can't, we'll always have the memories of the wonderful times we spent in those beautiful virtual worlds. Oh and by the way: if you have existing copies of the mods that you downloaded here before all this drama, you will of course be able to use them indefinitely and without restrictions, just like people have been doing for years with the RDR2 mod, as long as the games do not get breaking updates from the publishers.
Comments (327)
I just joined solely for that program, feel like I got scammed now. This needs to be at the top of the front page not in the paid section. Can I please get a refund?
Alright am I just not able to play this anymore? where is the free download? wtf
If you mean Cyberpunk, it is not available anymore.
Ive only just seen this after subscribing, does this mean CP2077 vr wont be available now Please advise asap i was promoted here by Next Level Sim Gaming
Also joined this when I read about what happened. This is so fucked up!
joined just to support. good luck brother.
Please keep making mods. I am appalled by the attitude of some in the VR community. People like you are keeping VR alive. We need you!
As I mentioned before, your work is truly outstanding. Maybe it’s worth looking at it from a different perspective and fully embracing a free, donation-based model. When I think about WinRAR and the kind of revenue they’ve generated with that approach, it’s actually a very strong example. You would likely reach a much broader audience and open many more doors that way. Not that you’re wrong in what you’re saying — your position is completely understandable — but perhaps it could be worth setting that aside and exploring a new path. In terms of publicity and the momentum that would come with it, I genuinely believe you would benefit in the long run. All the best
You are our Obiwan... Dont let the Dark win !
Hi,I admire your work and I'm a big fan. Days Gone in VR was an incredible experience, and so was The Last of Us 1. Now I wanted to play The Last of Us Part II remastered, but it crashes immediately on startup. Could it be that the mod no longer works with this game, or am I doing something wrong?
Try disabling Steam Input in the controller options for that game. If that doesn't help, put a copy of your RealVR64.log file on pastebin.com and post a link here.
I left Shadow PC Power for a physical PC, but I don't know what to choose in terms of GTX and configuration. Can you help me? Knowing that I also play Star Citizen.
what are your options for your budget?
Great, I got my money back due to the lack of a mod for 2077. But I'm sure the local fans will pay this money out of their own pockets, and otherwise what kind of fans are Great, I got my money back due to the lack of a mod for 2077. But I'm sure the local fans will pay this money out of their own pockets, and otherwise what kind of fans are they 🤗
Hey dudes and dudettes, I'd love to replay FF7 Remake Intergrade but I can't fix my resolution and the installation guide is gone from here. So, first try was with the latest REALVR version - 27.01. It started in windowed mode which was set by the mod I think but the resolution shown in the mod was 1920x1080 and well, you know something's wrong when you see that. The image looked awful, fuzzy and blurry but it was in VR. In the game settings the resolution dropdown only offered higher resolution with the same ratio. I tried the highest and it was the same blurry image. Changing the monitor setting to borderless fullscreen or what the other option was, resulted in the game being only flat. I thought maybe the latest version is not compatible and tried 26.3 with the same result. Then I went for a really old one 8.2 and as far as I found it, the version when the mod was released for FF7 was around 6.xx so not too far away. It started with a square resolution 2400x2400 shown in the overlay which was again very blurry. Since you can't change the res within the Mod (just like for FF7 Rebirth) I went to the game settings and here again I only found the res options 1920x1080 and higher variables from that. Changing to those did not change anything at all. Can anyone remember how to get this baby rolling? :( edit: the starting option -dx11 was also added in Steam.
An update broke the resolution patch. You would need to roll back the game for now unfortunately.
I bought your subscription for 10 euros, but I don’t have access to the Luke Ross VR mod. What’s the problem?
It should have presented you with the current situation before you joined. You can also read the most recent post. The pause is set to end in a few days here, so probably worth waiting for the next post at the end of the pause. I can ask for a refund for you, but if you are just going to rejoin when it is back up, it makes sense to wait.
A month has passed. Will there be a solution or should we remove the patronage, I don't want to pay for nothing. I should make a statement!!! Maybe update the ones that haven't received a notification yet. Write to the publishers to see if they allow it or not, and if they don't, don't update them, just make a decision.
A month hasn't passed yet. It is paused until Feb. 22nd. After the pause, you would have a free month still to decide what you want to do. Either way, you wouldn't be getting charged until April if you were already subbed when the pause happened. I'm sure you will know what is happening well before then. I'd expect a post in the next few days.
Fyi Baulders Gate update broke the mod. Im sure it will be a while.
If you have it on Steam, you should be able to roll it back. There are videos on YouTube for this.
Hey, I hope everything works out; its always about the money
Not sure if I can still get support here, but I went back to Far Cry New Dawn and tried to up the resolution since last time I played. I eventually restarted the game enough to get the new res but the aspect ratio is wrong in VR--head turning is warped and sickening. I remember aspect ratio being in the original post but that's down right now. Can anybody help?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WTF0bTJIU-Qo-jUcDSlFrOQpi5jzYJYQZBS2N3H5kuU/edit?usp=sharing This is a copy of the install post from the last email I got for it. If you have black bars on the sides of your view when turning your head, it is either from low performance, having something like ssw/asw turned on or a mix of latency and the Hfov optimization. If you are using 1/3 rendering mode, try moving to 1/2 if possible or Legacy just to see if it helps. You can lower the slider called "reduce shaking" in the main tab of the REAL overlay to 0 as well to see if that helps enough to keep the Hfov box checked. Hfov keeps the game from rendering beyond your horizontal fov, wich saves a chunk of performance and improves picture quality. Just depends on your system specs. Legacy is the easiest of the the Stereo 3d rendering options and has the lowest latency but it is less fluid because it doesn't have frame interpolation like 1/3 and 1/2. If you are using a headset that can do 72 or 60hz, you can try dropping down to that and using 1/2 to lower the fps cap from 90, which can be hard to hit with 1/2.
Get my money back. I paid €10 for 2077 only! Your problems should not concern me!
That's not cool Serj
Almost one month has passed so my comment is a bit late to the party but I still want to spread some kind words. For years now I am around here and ALL of the games I have bought because of your mods. None of them would have lightened my wallet with a boring flat perspective. I admire you and Brandon for your dedication and I was happy that you could make a living while spending all of your time on it. Without you, praydog's UEVR and other modders, VR would be coughing blood with mostly sloppy "games" getting released for 8 year olds. I sincerely hope you figure out a bulletproof way to stay. You brought so much gaming joy, in admiration, Sabine
Kingdon Come Deliverande 1 NEXT GEN update was just announced. I hope Luke will continue with this one, to complete the series.
I had the version 17.0.0 downloaded - which version of cyberpunk was that for? I haven’t updated cyberpunk in like a year
Dang, and today Death Stranding 2 was announced to come to PC in March...
🤞
When playing cyberpunk and aiming down sights I always have to shut one eye to aim properly down the centre, then the other day when I played it was centred and it was great then last night it reverted back to having to close one eye to line it up. Is there any way to adjust the camera??
Yes, there are camera sliders in the Cyberpunk tab of the REAL overlay. You just need to click on the main UI element to expose them. They should be labeled though.
If the problem is when you use files from the game, then could it be possible to keep your tool under patreon and the files needed for games will be available for free. And if there is a way to have a standard version of the tools with the bare minimum that will allow to play the game but not with the best visuals and keep the uprades of the best options of the tool on patreon. This way more people will try your mod and surely want to have better and no risk to have an other disgusting attack.
yup. Exactly this and also don't even host the "free" files on Patreon but use an international file hosting site with link to the fix in Patreon email with the password for the zip. Easy and fix's all problems.
If you called it a viewing application and not a mod, considering it is not cyberpunk specific, could that have helped?
Yes, getting away from the term mod would be a necessary step moving forward. Hindsight is always 20/20.
so correct setting pimax as default xr works fine and looks great ! tested a few other steam games ran great ! the issue is most likely with ubisoft im guessing ? im a + member none of the games are purchased just borrowed
Try this. Run the Meta app while you pick OpenVR from the runtime dropdown in the REAL overlay and hit Start VR. If VR starts that way, then pick Oculus runtime from the dropdown and see if it works. I have to do this for the Vulkan based games sometimes to get Oculus compatibility mode to inject. Do you have the Ubisoft overlay disabled?
I saw a suggestion on Reddit that you can sell the tool itself via the Patreon (similar to Vorpx) and then the individual profiles can be shared similar to UEVR. I’d hate for this to be the end.
Sounds like a smart aproach !!!!!
That really bites ! you know i purchased CP2077 solely for this MOD ! i was not interested at all in playing in flat ..that and quite a few other games from steam once i seen Luke developed a mod for them ..did they ever stop and think about ? surely other vr users did the same ? anyways just spent another 6k on pc upgrades to hopefully have the best possible flat to vr experience . Brandon if you could please point me to a link or lmk if "im doing it right" lol ...pc specs 9800x3d 64gb ddr5 5090 liquid suprim x gpu - headset -Pimax crystal super 57 PPD ..i did not touch any settings in pimax software other then 90hz , steam vr did not touch any settings . am able to play a few titles ive tested the mod is reporting "faking oculus rift cv1" - i am able to turn the ppd way up to 30-40 ppd and had some hardcore flickering at first which i was able to offset and fix for the most part via in game settings set max fps to x2 the headset hz (180) etc ...and this almost completely eradicated any flickering and looks mind blowing ! my question for Brandon or any other pimax users : is there any other settings i should adjust in pimax or steam etc or additional software ? am i running the mod properly i want to get the best bang for my buck lol . and to Luke : take some time off clear your head , i'm sure you will come back stronger then ever !
Pimax headsets use Oculus compatibility mode. I am guessing you already have the Meta Link app installed on your system, since it is faking a cv1. That is exactly what it should do. You don't need to run SteamVR at all and shouldn't. You don't need to run the Meta app either, just make sure it stays up to date on your system. Your system just needs the current Oculus files to use compatibility mode. Don't alter the frame rate cap in games, the flickering is most likely due to having Pimax sharpening on. If you really want to use the Pimax sharpening, then do whatever works though :) I just use Reshade sharpening personally, so I don't need it. REAL has a built-in sharpener called deblur that defaults to all the way up already. You can find the slider in the main overlay tab. Be careful not to over sharpen or things will look very grainy and horrible. Pimax headsets will still have some compatibility issues but mostly UI stuff. Like in Spidey 2, some of the UI functions where you hold the trigger down won't show up properly. My Crystal Light seems to work just fine in most titles I have tried it with, and I have only had UI issues in a few. For the Vulkan games, DOOM and Indy, I had to run the Meta app and use OpenVR from the dropdown in the REAL overlay to get them to inject properly. Oculus runtime worked fine after that. So, you may need to do that if you play those and find that they won't inject properly using Oculus runtime/compatibility mode. The settings like "priority rendering" and "foveated rendering" etc. in the Pimax software won't work with these mods, so you can disable them entirely. If you play something native, they can help boost performance so don't forget to turn them back and try them out if you play a native VR game.
Hi, I tried the newest DLSS (310.5.3) with L preset and the quality/clarity is just insane. BG3 at just x25 (1:1) resolution slider and it blew my mind on good it looks. There is a cost in performance though, but if you can't tank it then try preset M. It costs a bit less and has similar quality. This is it, I don't think I'd much more than this level of clarity, just a bit more frames and it'll be Absolute!
What is your PC configuration (GPU, CPU) ?
Hi, Sorry about everything you guys are going through. I am trying to add vrmod to Doom DA and keep getting error "Failed to load Steamapi" Used older and some newer versions (not latest version)of vrmod and all say same thing when trying to transfer the files over. Any advice would be greatly appreciated .
forgot to mention, I'm using ps5vr helmet.
Hey Brandon, is there a way to bind the “force 2d screen” to a button combo. On the games where it’s not an option to do that in the REAL overlay menu?
Not that I am aware of. You could try looking in the RealVR.ini file to see if there is a line there and try adding it into the ini file for the game you are playing. It likely needs to be coded in as well, but not entirely sure. Might work 🤷♂️
Hi Brandon, it seems the post for the Doom DA instructions is inaccessible. I cannot find it in the feed, unless I am missing it somehow. I can find it in the search but it won't open, asks for membership. Any chance you can share the initial instructions text or point me in the right direction? Thank you.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MipsCfV_7Z2BeDp94dbUf0RmMIxS84LnW49H4QOQ8kM/edit?usp=sharing That is a copy of the post with all setup instructions.
Please do NOT pause my Patreon support this month (or any month)! My support for your leading-edge VR work has never been transactional - rather, it is meant to support the artist, not the art. For example, our meager support money could help with legal consultation fees reviewing very likely incorrect license violation notifications...
I'm unable to get the Great Circle to launch in my headset even though the mod overlay is running. All in-game settings are as instructed. Is there anywhere I can find support given the threads are locked? Also, I was a paid subscriber through February 17 but am showing that I'm in the "free" category and am prompted to "upgrade to paid". Is it because I disabled auto-renew before the latest announcement? Would appreciate help with that as well.
The upgrade to paid thing, I am not sure about. My email stated that Luke was on a pause but didn't ask me to upgrade so maybe disabling auto renew does have something to do with it. I'm not sure how that works exactly according to dates and the current pause. Make sure you have Steam Input enabled for Indy if you don't already. Can you put a copy of your RealVR64.log file on pastebin.com and post a link here? Also make sure no settings got turned on in the Nvidia app if you have it. That has been a thing lately.
Dear Luke, I'm writing this from South Korea, as one of the countless users whose life was forever changed thanks to your mod. I played Cyberpunk 2077 because of you. I fell in love with Night City because of your work. Without your mod, I wouldn’t have bought the game. Without your vision, I wouldn’t have been inside the story — I would’ve just watched it. You turned a good game into a living, breathing world. And for people like me, that meant the world. I’m so sorry this is happening. The silence from those in power, the legal pressure, the piracy… it’s all a disgrace to the passion and integrity you’ve poured in. As a writer and creator myself, I just want to say: You’ve already won. You’ve created something unforgettable. You gave thousands of us not just gameplay, but a place to live. And no DMCA can erase that. Stay strong. You’re not alone. – Melanie (Yeon Seo-on) South Korea
Thank you, Melanie! Like you, I have had many unforgettable experiences due to Luke's work. Not only in Cyberpunk. I will never ever forget when Chorizo jumped into the truck with me in Far Cry 6! That is one of my all-time favorite moments in VR. Seems simple and stupid but just points to how much more immersive something like that can be when you are actually inside the world, instead of just "watching it" like you said. That game for me, was pretty much a series of adventures I had with my little dog. Still wish we could go flying together though 😋 They should have given him a little parachute if he falls out.
hey , is there a way to add custom resloution to ff7 rebirth
You just use the ppd slider 😉 In the REAL overlay. Unless it's broken currently. If you have a specific res, you can try setting it in the RealVR.ini file.
I recently started getting this error when trying to run Indy. XR_ERROR_SWAPCHAIN_FORMAT_UNSUPPORTED. I tried reinstalilng steamVR. SteamVR is set to OPENXR runtime. Any ideas?
What headset and how is it connected if not DisplayPort? Did you change the game settings before running the config file already? It sounds like it was already working for you previously?
Hello Brandon or anyone...trying to run Doom Eternal with v26.1 of the REAL mod, when I try to run Realconfig it tells me the game hasn't been run and options set even though I have run it in flat mode. I'm assuming it's referring to one specific option but I can no longer access the post, any idea what I should be checking? Already set it to windowed and motion blur off. Thanks!
What platform do you own the game on?
I'll be honest, I tried CP2077 in VR and found it wasn't for me - as was the general VR experience. But this news has popped up in my feeds, and I'm really sorry to see what you're going through. I really respect the efforts you have put in to make these games available in a format that otherwise wouldn't be, and the claims made are illogical because you haven't deprived these companies of any income. Copyright taken to this degree is immoral, and has nothing to do with protecting anyone's IP. It's almost like someone in their legal departments are looking for excuses to keep their useless jobs. Good luck with it all bro.
Today I figured I try to use oculus link instead of virtual desktop and see if I can eliminate compression in cyberpunk altogether. No matter what I try I cant get the mod to activate this way. It is only loading in the virtual desktop in oculus link. Is it even possible to run it this way or do we have to use a wireless method for whatever reason? I am fully aware that the mod is not supported anymore btw. I use the latest version working with the game and having the time of my life in this game in vr. I really hope you figure out what to do Luke! Thank you for all these amazing mods!
Did you verify if you changed the default OpenXR runtime from SteamVR to Oculus? In Meta Horizon / Quest Link app on your computer, go to: "Settings" > "General", scroll to the bottom and click the "Set Meta Horizon Link as active" next to "OpenXR Runtime" Mind that you will need to use Meta Horizon / Quest Link for all PCVR applications. If you want to change it back to SteamVR (which is what Virtual Desktop uses), you would go into: "SteamVR Settings" > "OpenXR" > "Set SteamVR as OpenXR runtime" Hope this helps.
Dans ce cas , la solution la plus raisonnable serait qu'il t'embauche vu le travail d'artiste que tu presentes.merci l'ami pour tous ton travail comme d'habitude ,t'es un champion!!
Luke est Français ?
Hi Luke, hi Brandon... I discovered virtual reality in 2016/17 with the PSVR1 and it was LOVE at first sight. Then the Quest2 and, in 2020, I bought a €2,000 PC to play Half-Life: Alyx and... GTAV in VR. As soon as I bought the Quest2, I almost stopped using the PS4 altogether, and when I switched to PCVR, THANKS TO LUKE'S WORK, I bought almost all his VR conversions of games I would NEVER have bought to play in flat mode... is it possible that "big companies" are "afraid" that many gamers who try VR, not coincidentally those of LUKE ROSS, will completely stop playing in flat mode? To conclude: will Cyberpunk 2, GTA 6 be released? I won't buy them unless Luke can convert it to VR! I know that... ....doesn't care if I don't buy GTA 6, Cyberpunk2, etc., but at this point, I hope they have a crazy amount of problems at launch... and even after! And finally, LUKE ROSS DESERVES TO BE PAID MUCH MORE for all the wonderful emotions, adventures, travels, etc. I've been able to experience thanks to his WORK!
That would be the ultimate, but has to be done some other way and not behind a paywall and CDPR would be fine with it.
"I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up, that one day Luke Ross & Brandon will move to China or Japan 🇯🇵. Since U.S copyright laws do not directly effect overseas” 😎
Japanese copyrights are in enforce Chinese doesn't enforce copyright on US, Japan or any outside of China. China does enforce copyrights on movies & music that are produced in China and Europe trademarks.
Hey everyone, I need help, how do I delete mod? I'm noob please help
What game? For most of them, renaming dxgi.dll to dxgi_bak.dll should be enough. If the game has custom resolutions added in, you can use Full Screen mode to get monitor resolutions back. Depends on the game though.
Bruh. You are a legend. Don't stop being you. F**k the corpos.
100%.... and pirating 😉
HELLO, HEARTWARMING WITH YOU. I'VE BEEN HERE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE SITE AND I'M DISAPPOINTED BY WHAT'S HAPPENING. PERHAPS A SOLUTION IS TO CREATE YOUR OWN RV SITE AND PERHAPS HAVE ALL MEMBERS SIGN A CHARTER WHO ARE AWARE OF YOUR WORK AND ARE WILLING TO PAY MONEY FOR IT.
I think a lot of us understand this is your job and you couldn’t make this if it wasn’t. I’ll stay and support. Is there another way to get around this? Maybe a moving link? You could also start your own company to protect your IP and negotiate on your own terms. The tech in the VR space is starting to get a lot better. I think it’s worth sticking it out.
Cyberpunk was the reason I saved up and built a system to play pcvr, your work is amazing, otherwise others would have done it, just want to say thank you for the experience, and sad day if my game somehow updates and I can't play. I don't have an option on the situation because both sides make some sense, but I don't know enough about it. Hope you can work something out you have been a huge part of the pcvr experience being amazing.
If it means so much to you to play cyberpunk in VR you can buy it at gog com. There it is drm free and you can download the offline installers. Back them up with the latest Luke Ross Mod and you can play the game forever. This is what I did. You dont' need anything to play it, not even an internet connection. The actual version is still 2.31a or so, that runs well with the mod.
I'm confused. Do these publishers know how many of their products you (your mods) have sold for them? I purchased and then switly returned Cyberpunk 2077 when I relized that it wasn't a VR game. I later stumbled across an article that spoke of Luke Ross and Patreon. For the price of a subscription, it was well worth giving CP2077 another try. When I installed Luke's Mod, I thought this was the most amazing thing that I had ever experienced using any number of VR headsets. You hang in ther Luke. Common sense always prevails.
True. I've bought more than a handful of games and have a few more on wishlist only because of this mod.
I choose to pay for this mod not only because of its high quality and regular updates, but also because I've joined a dedicated community that can help me fix issues with it, that I can't find the solutions to elsewhere. How can a company like Bethesda sell us mods and then consumers argue amongst themselves when an independent developer does the same? All the while, greedy companies get away with over-stepping copyright boundaries yet again. I don't see any reason why someone shouldn't make money off of hard work. It's not this man's fault that developers in the game industry don't get paid well, as I've seen some argue. That's an issue for the industry. I hope you keep fighting the good fight against this copyright bs. I can only thank you for the hours of fun I've had with this mod since getting it only a month or so ago. I bought the games I have used it with specifically for this mod, so they would definitely have less sales if not for your mod.
It is honestly disappointing to see how many people with little or no understanding of the VR space feel the need to loudly judge your work without really knowing what they are talking about, especially in parts of the gaming press, on gaming websites, and among the usual know- it-alls in their comment sections and forums. What makes it even more tragic is seeing this kind of hostility coming from within our own community. People who should know better and who have benefited directly or indirectly from what you have done. Constructive criticism is fine but a lot of what is happening right now is bad faith noise and pile on behavior. Your mods made it possible to experience games in VR that would never have received official VR support. No matter how loud the critics get your contribution to PC VR is real and appreciated by many even if that is not always reflected by the loudest voices online.
Agreed! Luke is a VR legend plain and simple.
Everyone's telling him what to do, but how about you respect his decision as an adult? I don't understand. Now, if there's some written law about modders saying everything has to be free, stop with the fantasies and weird stuff. That law doesn't exist. Are you seriously comparing adding huge breasts in Fallout to what Luke does and his peak performance in VR games that even VR developers can't achieve? Seriously? We're talking about something top-tier.
Hi Luke! I'm writing to offer my full support. I hope this mess gets sorted out. I want to encourage you to keep going with your project, one way or another, but please, don't stop being the king of VR. Keep creating amazing stories for us. I know the financial aspect is crucial because this project demands all your time and effort, but your loyal and huge community is here to support you with our donations. There are many of us, and we won't let you down. Keep your spirits up, and keep being the king of VR!
Absolutely! I’ve now probably played more VR through his mods than everything else combined. Will absolutely keep contributing if he keeps going. I will be honest it won’t be every month (I don’t even do that now) but every time a new game comes along will be happy to donate the $10 I’m sure he will make drastically less money which sucks but I hope he does continue. He has single handedly made VR worth it.
Hey Luke just wanted to reach out and tell you that people still care about you and your projects even if they don't fully agree. Hope you're doing good friend and thank you again for all the joy you've brought into my household and many others. Chin up bud
So how does VORPX get away with it? That is a paid prodct too..
Vorpx released a free version for Cyberpunk 2077
Hi Luke, hi Brandon, I just wanted to send you a message of support. What you have achieved is simply incredible. As a VR-only player, I can honestly say that Luke, your work has made me experience emotions in VR that I never could have imagined. Thanks to you, I rediscovered what gaming can truly be when it reaches its highest potential. A huge thank you to everyone who worked on this project. What you have built is exceptional, and it has brought joy, wonder, and unforgettable moments to so many of us. From the bottom of my heart: thank you. Please know that I fully support you. If you manage to find a solution, let us know. I will support you as much as I possibly can. Stay strong, keep searching for solutions, because in my opinion, there are always ways forward and always loopholes to explore. Hold on, and thank you again for everything. Best regards, Tony (Switzerland)
Thank you! I truly hope we are able to push forward as well.
So I paid my monthly fee and now I'm being told I need to subscribe!!! WTAF!
It is on pause, don't subscribe again! You will be given a free month when it comes back up to cover the month you already paid for. At least that is the way I understand it. Did Patreon send you a message to resub?
Man you got this, this will open new chapters into something even better with the skills you gained and know how to move through this , just ignore the negativity you done something epic playing your mode is like magic, is there any way to actually sell your product as some sort of way layer where people them self load games by them self kind of like here is tool run it with Claude code to connect the game idk just dreaming now but I hope you find way to make it even better. All the best and thank you will keep supporting you
Lots of opinions here about what to do. You're a smart guy and more than capable of figuring this out. My only 2 cents is PLEASE don't just drop everything. There has to be a way forward. You've done too much work and made too many people happy to just let this project die. You have my support and probably have many many more who feel the same way. I don't care how much you are making per month, your service is worth every penny IMHO.
I purchased the latest version of the mod a few days before Luke Ross was forced to take it down. I don't usually play these first-person games; my focus is solely on flight and racing simulators. However, I bought Cyberpunk solely because R.E.A.L. allows me to enjoy the open world in VR. Here's my question: is it still possible to enjoy the VR experience in RDR2 with this version I purchased? Otherwise, I won't buy this game or any other that doesn't allow me to experience it in VR. Congratulations, Luke Ross!
Nah RDR2 and GTAV got dropped aong time ago, there are Youtube guides on how to get it running tho.
Create a petition
I bought Cyberpunk 2077 only because Luke Ross' VR mod was available, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it, I don't play flat games, only VR.
Luke! Just make it free! We will subscribe anyway! I'm sure many people here pledge the same! Don't let it die like this.
I would pay voluntarily, for sure. Dunno if that helps though.
Hey Luke, if you read these comments, my advice would be to stop using Patreon, and rebrand the core dll as a generic VR utility, self-hosted with a Stripe subscription. Figure out a way to open source the game specific parts, put them on GitHub and let the community compile and share those. You keep your income, and game companies get to play whack-a-mole with 1000 cloned repos of the game specific stuff.
Ngl, that's unleashing pandora's box against the corpos.
Luke make the VR mod free and instead I’ll subscribe and pay the same for a 15min silent monthly podcast from you. Job done! I remember the days of RDR2 just floating in a small boat across a lake hearing the lapping of the water against the sides and watching the fish swimming by and in the distance hearing the train bell. Memories of the best VR gaming experience. I’ll always have that thanks to you. 🤝
I pledge the same
Not sure if I will get a response here but I'll try anyway. I am trying to get FF7 Remake working. The mod installs, but the resolution selections in-game are only the 16:9 format and not very high at all. I've tried everything I know to do including command line options, Engine.ini edits and even tried to make the game think I had a higher resolution monitor with DSR multiplier just so I could increase it to no avail. Any support would be appreciated. I've with Luke Ross and will continue my support and hopefully this mess gets unraveled.
If it is the first actual remake game, there should be custom resolutions added into the games settings as long as you have it in windowed mode. There shouldn't be any need to do anything but pick one of them. Don't enable DSR or anything like that. Just don't switch to full screen if that is what you did :)
It’s truly disappointing to hear this. It’s hard to believe that publishers still don’t seem to understand that this is actually how games should be experienced. Especially considering that, in my opinion, the biggest problem in the VR industry is the lack of compelling content. There are very few truly good or native VR games. Being able to immerse yourself so deeply in a game world like this is simply unparalleled. If experiences like these became more mainstream, people would finally understand what their Quest, whatever headset they own, or even the PSVR2 is really capable of — instead of letting these devices collect dust in a corner. I sincerely hope you find a way to continue your work. Instead of hiring you and officially integrating a VR mode into their games, they choose to block or undervalue the incredible work you’ve done. It’s a real shame. If only someone would jump on this idea and help bring it into the mainstream, ideally as a native, built-in feature. Thank you so much for the countless hours you’ve invested. I truly hope this isn’t the end and that there’s more to come. All the best, Michael
Is your application divisible into a central core, framework that is generic in nature, which could be hosted here? Game specific modules (mods) of your application could be available to the public and hosted everywhere. So folk pay a subscription for the core engine (which you could continue to update) and problematic game specific components are public mods. Kinda like vorpyx (but it actually works) with free public game modules? Grasping at straws here perhaps, but your work has been too good to just leave on the floor. Plus I hate seeing the bad guys win :)
Great! I finally get a headset that can handle stuff like this. I subscribe and then everything gets dmca and then he removes everything. I can't say I blame him. But no I'm never going to get support for this headset because using a Galaxy XR headset is harder to find stuff for or get support for that matter
lmao, thats some bad luck, try UEVR instead, Jedi survivor in VR is mindblowing
Luke and Brandon, please stay in touch with us no matter what happens. Your VR knowledge is unique. Your legacy must be save and somehow made accessible again no matter how. If you need financial support to fight back legally or to establish a new REAL platform let us know (or me DM), I'm ready for it., and will hit a donation button with a significant amount immediately.
I've just emailed CDPR with this email below. I hope it helps... Dear CD Project Red, I was very disappointed to hear that you have used the blunt hammer that is the DMCA strike to hit out at Luke Ross and his VR Mod for Cyberpunk 2077. As other users have probably pointed out you can buy aftermarket parts for cars, phones and myriad other things available in today’s world. How is a VR Mod any different to those aftermarket items? Does it copy any of those resources? Does it harm Cyberpunk in any way? Quite the reverse, I’m sure it drove many people to buy the game purely to experience the game in VR. I hope you will look at this and other community feedback and withdraw this DMCA strike so that Luke Ross and other aftermarket developers can continue working on making existing games, different / better / unique. It is game piracy that the DMCA Strike was supposed to be used for, not modding games for which you have legally purchased. Kind regards, [Name redacted] PS. I’ve played through Cyberpunk and its DLC 3 times now. It is fantastic. This 4th playthrough using VR brings another level of enjoyment to the game. Cyberpunk 2077 is a masterpiece. Cyberpunk 2077 VR is breathtaking... Just a thought.
That is heartbreaking. All good things... Cheers, and thank you for everything!
Damn this sucks
i dont udnerstand one thing.... how the hell CDPR even have guts to do this after they release a broken shitty game and fixing it another 3 years...... no way...
Just wanted to come here and say I hope Luke doesn't give up. Fight the good fight!
Aside from the VR Mods themselves, the Patreon subscription pays for continued support, which is a substantial benefit for myself. I've been seeing comparisons between the business models for Luke Ross Mods and UEVR Mods. UEVR Mods, in my opinion, rely on the goodwill of modders making the UEVR profiles for free (although some have asked for donations, and I have contributed towards some) and keeping them up to date. I don't have the intelligence to discuss whether CDPR is evil or not for the DCMA strike on Cyberpunk, but having worked in business myself, if you agree to a contract, you kind of forgo the right to argue if you feel later on that one of the rules is stupid or not. I don't have regrets in subscribing to Luke Ross; that was my choice. I hope something can be saved from the current situation that enables the Luke Ross mods to continue. Reading through the comments has been very informative and it seems there are potential solutions. Now it's a game of wait and see.
The more I look into it, the legal precedent seems to be that using RAM to alter a game doesn't count as copyright infringement at all. The actual game code and assets would be the protected artistic/expressive content and it doesn't change the code or create a derivative copy separate from the game. Because the modification only runs when the game is running and is gone immediately when the game is terminated. So Luke is actually correct that it is not a derivative work from a copyright perspective. I do think presenting it as virtualization software or something like that instead of calling it a mod would be helpful if Luke does choose to move forward. It really is just too bad that there is not a mediary process to this whole thing that can happen without risking a law suit. The law is not black and white, although it looks like a judge would probably ending up siding with Luke, there are ways they could probably draw the whole thing out and be scummy about it. I do wonder what they are actually allowed to put in a contract that is in fact binding. Obviously there must be some limits.
Mannn. I have been fighting the good fight all DAY long and these people they just won’t see your side and how complex this issue really is. They just want to pin it as what they see a DMCA for IP but it’s not that… I’m tired. I’ve been trying and I know I don’t need to or have to but I believe in this and darn it I want people to see the reason behind this and why it is. If you are also fighting the good fight share where and maybe we can gain some ground and help each other!!! Here I am on Facebook in the “Cyberpunk Life”group and a few others trying to make people see reason to no avail. Still gunna try tho.
Most reasonable people will not have a habit of jumping to hateful conclusions quickly. But the people most likely to post bullshit online are probably the people that drive you to want to defend and reason with. That is the biggest problem, they are probably not reasonable or fair minded in the first place 😉. If you are able to provide a reasonable defense, they will just fall back to saying they don't care. That has been my experience. Thank you for caring and trying to fight the good fight for VR 🥹
Maybe if just everyone stop spamming messages in this forum and just calm down.Maybe, just maybe Luke will come back soon and found a solution about the CP disaster and will continue with awesome new VR mods.Seriously people ,don't put even more wood in the fire.
Actually the vast majority of messages under this post have been pretty positive. So keep those going :)
What a shitshow, I am disappointed, confused and angered by some of the VR community and overall shortsightedness of games companies.Since joining this Patreon, I’ve had some of the best gaming experiences in my 40 years of playing and have seen firsthand the incredible effort that goes into creating these amazing mods, which I believe absolutely deserve to be compensated. I’ll continue to support Luke and truly hope he finds a way to make this worthwhile for him. If not, his contributions to the VR modding scene have been invaluable, and he’s shown us what’s possible. I wish him and Brandon all the best moving forward.
Arguments about additional sales are not inherently wrong, but from a publisher’s perspective they remain anecdotal and statistically irrelevant, even when they are positive. A VR mod cannot plausibly reduce sales and may even generate some additional purchases, which is precisely why this situation is difficult to frame as corporate greed. There is no realistic scenario in which shutting such mods down protects revenue or creates new income at corporate scale. What stands out much more is timing and recent internal change. The VR mod for Cyberpunk had existed for years without being treated as an issue, which makes the sudden enforcement particularly telling. CD Projekt has recently restructured and made GOG operate more independently. GOG has long embodied a preservation focused philosophy that treats games as cultural artifacts and places a strong emphasis on player goodwill. Distancing the core company from that branch likely also means distancing itself from some of that community driven mindset. When that happens, decisions tend to shift toward stricter control, clearer legal boundaries, and lower tolerance for gray areas that were previously accepted. In that context, the current enforcement looks far more like a control and risk management decision following internal restructuring than anything related to profit or the mod itself.
I got cp2077 twice because of your app/"mod"... Horizon 1-2 is the best VR experience Ive had to date! Would a possible work around be having a "RealVR" app as paid access and all the configs/"mods" be set to free access? Your work has been 100% worth it and I'd love for it to continue. As much as sticking it to them may or may not work, make sure it's even worth your time... the DMCA system is the part that's broken not these corpo shits. Without some of them we wouldn’t have these games to enjoy with your craft. Just because they're too big to see the ground doesn’t always make them default evil... just real stupid sometimes... :/ edit: the shear amount of income you're getting speaks to the value you are adding here, btw.
In KCD2 the aiming camera seems to be on all the time. I can't get the HUD to remain in a fixed position. Can you please help with that?
I actually bought some games because of the vr mods. Luke ross did the companies in question a favour. He generated them money which otherwise wouldnt have got with out the vr mod. They should be greatful.
I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to stop playing. Cp 2077
Is there anyway to post a quick temporary 24 hour mercy release for the homies? It was just like, "Hey, mods gone". I had quest link problems for like a month and a bit, which resulted in me not getting the Days Gone or Baldur's Gate yet, and now I can't actually access them. I am and still was a happy supporter. Seems petty, but I really can't forgive myself if I didn't at least try to find a way to access the mod for these guys.
I didn’t write this Referring to this as a “mod” is legally and technically imprecise. What’s being described is third-party middleware that operates at the rendering and output layer, not a modification of the game’s source code, assets, or compiled binaries. Hooking into graphical output or API calls does not, by itself, constitute copying, adapting, or redistributing copyrighted material. From a copyright perspective, infringement requires unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or creation of a derivative work. Software that intercepts draw calls or transforms rendered frames without embedding copyrighted assets does not meet that threshold. This is materially different from asset extraction, code injection, or binary patching. If interaction alone were sufficient to trigger DMCA liability, entire categories of accepted activity would collapse. Gameplay streaming rebroadcasts copyrighted audiovisual output in real time, yet is widely tolerated and legally justified as transformative use. VR rendering goes further by materially altering the mode of consumption, adding stereoscopy, head tracking, and spatial transformation to an otherwise flat presentation. That level of transformation strengthens, rather than weakens, a fair use argument. There is also extensive industry precedent for paid third-party software that enhances games without owning their IP: VorpX Trinus VR Driver4VR Post-processing middleware and shader frameworks Telemetry, capture, and visualization tools These products are sold commercially, rely on generalized techniques, and function across multiple titles. They are not treated as infringing because they do not redistribute copyrighted content or substitute for the original work. The legal vulnerability here does not arise from copyright infringement per se, but from contract law. Publishers can restrict monetization via EULA or fan-content policies, even where copyright claims would be weak. A DMCA takedown in this context functions as leverage, not adjudication. No court has ruled that output-layer VR middleware constitutes infringement. In short, this is not a case of unauthorized copying. It is a case of a rights holder exercising contractual control over monetization of software that interacts with their product, regardless of whether that interaction would survive a substantive copyright challenge. Disagreeing with the business model is reasonable. Characterizing the underlying technology as inherently infringing is not.
Thank you for posting this. While I totally might borrow this in some of the many internet fights I’m currently in defending Luke, more importantly I appreciate the knowledge of this for myself.
Argh, just got Avatar because I could try this VR mod. Bad timing. I was never interested in cyberpunk but had even considered getting this game to try in VR . I guess that one is permanently off my wish list. Hoping the Avatar version gets released again. Thanks for the hard work.
I sadly missed the last version to use with BG3. Yep, hopefully it comes up again in some way in the near future!
https://bsky.app/profile/sheridan.vip/post/3md5zgcvto22r
Get yourself hired by a major video game company, or at least keep the game mods available for which the developers haven’t threatened you over your work… I don’t find this very logical. People paid for these mods, and making them unplayable when some games receive updates just renders them useless. Not everyone thinks about avoiding updates just because they won’t be able to play the VR version anymore. CD Projekt said in their message “no problem with making the mod free”… so just do that then. You would still have received quite a lot of contributions during the years it was active. I love your work—your mods made me discover VR like never before—but stopping everything because of a single warning ends up penalizing your community, the same community that made you rich.
If the Patreon gets taken down because of more DMCAs then they will be forcibly gone period. This is a step to make sure that doesn't happen while he tries to get things sorted. Even if a game updates, you can often roll back. Not gone, just may take some extra work from the person wanting to play. Getting hired solves nothing really. Then he will have to spend his time working on what they want, which is not VR mods 😉
Dude take this shit to the court. You don't use assets and you don't use their code. They can shove up their ass their DMCA. Use 505 games as this is smaller publisher win the case, they don't have much $$$. Once you won the case then you have easy way to sue both CDPR and Rockstar for damages + emotional damage + business damage. that could go easily into earned milions for you if not tens of millions considering amount of people and worldwide news. They have absolutely no foot to stand on legal wise. Be sure to win the case and don't take settlement because for sure they will want to settle. Any judge will look at it as simple as making spare parts for car and car maker suing you for it despite it being completely legal. The case is localized as it is you who sues them for damage they have done with their illegal DMCA. They will have to present in what way you are using their assets or code and moreover argue that making spare parts for cars is illegal (which is obvious lose case lol). You don't even need some wizard lawyer. Making spare parts , plugins etc. is completely legal. They. Do. Not. Have. Foot. To. Stand. On. Just to make further point. Bleem vs Sony case established huge precedence where you can completely do what you do and make money out of it. Nowdays that case is a bit bad because emulators need to remove build in DRM (which is gray area) but you don't do that which means Bleem vs Sony is fully applying to you. Moreover that case established that you can use screenshots their material to promote your stuff. The same way makers of spare parts have to say name of car for which parts are etc. Finally after game is sold makers of it have no say in what users or you are doing to it. That's clearly established law unless you are trying to circumvent established DRM for which set of laws was prepared. Make gofund me for legal defense. There are ton of creators like you who would love to establish clear law here + people who would love to use your mods etc. Going against publishers is always good PR, contact Rossman (he's the one about right to repair as this clearly falls into similar category where publushers tries to prevent you from doing something to bought game, he'll bite as well as he has worldwide reach.) Revelant cases aside from BLEEM: US LAW: Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., Plaintiff-appellee, v. Nintendo of America: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/964/965/341457/ Micro Star v. FormGen Inc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Star_v._FormGen_Inc. EU LAW: CJEU case C-159/23 on copyright protection of computer program’s variable content https://lod.lovdata.no/article/2024/12/CJEU%20case%20C-15923%20on%20copyright%20protection%20of%20computer%20program%E2%80%99s%20variable%20content
Thanks for providing the links. It is actually quite informative to read through.
I actually just want to make sure whomever Luke Ross is isn't terribly affected by all the things I've read. Some of it is just insanely cruel and rude. There's a person there - say what you want about the situation - consider the person! I wouldn't fault him if he walked away from this entirely. Also I don't feel that $20k/month is unreasonable at all = Case-in-point: Lawyers make far more than 20k/month - particularly copywright lawyers. Certainly the world needs more Luke Ross's and less lawyers. I say his next mod shouldn't be a change to programming code, but the legal code.
I will continue to donate so that Luke can still release quality vr mods but if he gives up all together than I will have to decline donating in the future. I get that it takes a lot of time and time is money so hopefully enough of us can convince him to continue his work while we continue to provide financial support for his efforts.
He wouldn't ask you to donate if he decides to stop. He is trying to figure things out and this move was just a pause to try and be fair while he is doing so.
Please do not give up man! Your work is unbelievable and ff7 remake has changed my perspective on a VR gaming, ITS SO GOOD I literally bought the other final fantasy game that you make the mod for because I knew it would be just as fantastic. Im gonna buy death stranding because of you too. Just please! im not gonna un sub because of "cyberpunk 77" I have it already modded for vr but its not the greatest game in my opinion. I just love your work and you're literally the reason why I made a patreon to begin with so PLEASE DONT GIVE UP HOMIE YOU DESERVE TO GET PAID THIS MONTH 🙏 GOD BLESS I have been subbed for 2 years now and won't let it go
Same boat! I only buy games if there's a VR mod
Isn't it just REAL VR twisting and bending around so that it actually works in these games? He's not selling their game at all (not that I would have bought half of these games if I couldn't REALVR them). He's not taking anything from their game. Like Luke has said so many times that you need your own licenced non pirated copy of the game. Always praises and supports developers. "Yay the mod works in your game now". We're running the game we bought. It's not like he's trying to sell any part of these games or using any part of these games. Are they gonna DCMA a TV for playing the game on it? If they don't start giving TVs away for free you can't play the game you bought anymore.
Hey all, I don't know where I should post this question, so I hope it's okay that I am posting it here. I subscribed to this patreon quite a few months ago, specifically because I wanted to play through Cyberpunk in VR. I still have a copy of the most recent version of the VR mod that included Cyberpunk, and I am trying to get everything set up now. I think I have everything running and looking great, except I'm having an issue where I am unable to move the vertical axis using my controller; the only way I can aim or look up and down is by tilting my head. Unfortunately, I am disabled and cannot look up and down far enough for this to be a viable way for me to play. Is this the way it's intended to control? Or, is there a way that I can enable the controller to control the vertical axis? Thank you for any help you can give me!
Unfortunately, that is correct. There is a way to disable it in the RealVR.ini file but it messes up the image in your headset quite badly. It was designed for 3d monitors. That is the only way I am aware of because the mod is built around head based aiming to keep the horizon locked to your headset.
Ik alot's going on but can I suggest you mod Hitman's vr version so its not some cheeks I get as much immersion in that game as I do in cp2077 vr.
Just wanted to say thank you for all the work you’ve done <3 Your VR mods meant a lot to many people and were the reason some of us even got into VR in the first place. It really sucks that the situation has become this difficult, but your decision makes total sense given the risks. I hope you find a solution that lets you continue your work and get fairly compensated for it , you’ve definitely earned it. Stay strong.
That is incredibly sad. i can confirm that Cyberpunk 2077 in VR was the most immersive gaming experience of my Life. You could even Argue that this Mod made CDPR Money, because I played it on Xbox first and bought it again for PC just for the VR Mod. I have never played the Flat Version on PC. I am very sorry Luke, you are doing Gods work here...
It absolutely made them money, for no expense needed on their part. I bought Phantom Liberty after installing the mod, and I've seen multiple comments here and elsewhere on the Internet that people bought CP2077 just to play with the mod. It's a crazy decision by CDPR to do this; it's basically a legal team unable to see past the text in their policies
How about we just have a Patreon for Luke Ross Legal Fees and everyone can literally put the money where their mouth is hahah.
Agreed! I'm in
The fact that Brandon has stopped replying to all the posts is like the canary in the coal mine going silent. This is it, folks. It's done. Yet another gaming experience ripped away from us due to lack of profit.
I'm still here 😉 I'll respond to support requests still and here and there to other things. No need to reply to all the messages for Luke. Those are for him 🙂
Sent this .. Hello, I bought your cyberpunk game with expansion pack twice once on xbox series and once on pc. You owe the 2nd purchase entirely to the Luke Ross mod and I am sure there are many like me. Playing the game on VR makes the flat game seem unengaging. Playing the VR is the most engaing gaming I've ever played and Im 59 and go back to pong. You have really shot yourself in foot with this one and totally lost my respect- I would actually go out of my way not to support you in the future. So what if he made 30k - he deserves every cent/penny for his hard / talented work You should have supported him Instead you do this - what a sad own goal. Change your mind - life is short stop the small mindedness and makre exceptions - embrace your community and this mod and reap the benefits and goodwill going forward. Sincerely, Philip R - Dublin -
Hey Luke, longtime supporter here. I know the situation is difficult but I am positive that you will work something out. Wanted to thank you for all the great experiences you have provided us for all those years.
Know you aren't alone though it feels like the world is piling on. there are many of us too busy enjoying the wonderful games your framework made VR accessible to hop into the forums and fight the trolls and entitled whiners. Know you helped keep VR alive and relevant! Your hard work is/was greatly appreciated.
Hey Luke, I just wanted to say thank you for your mod and all your hard work. I've sent the last few days defending you on YouTube. So many people come out swinging when they don't have the facts. Anyway cheers and thanks again. Dave
Sorry all that happened is you got greedy. You don't automatically get the right to commercially monetize someone else's IP just because it's popular.
Just start your own website that has a membership to the community. Then offer the mods for "free".
I would be happy to continue supporting this way as long as the mods keep coming i will keep supporting
Not certain if anyone has said this yet, but highly recommend doing a full copy backup of your entire CP2077 folder and making your steam manifest for it read only. With all of the rumbling going on, CDPR is likely to push a “patch” that breaks the mod at its current state. Easier to have a good backup and keep playing. Again, Luke, thank you for doing the hard lift to turn a great game into a unique and unparalleled experience. I can’t play it flat anymore.
Im sorry Luke, but there is no winning this case. Your mod requires Cyberpunk to run, that still requires the use of their intellectual property to make your mod function. Youd have to make an entirely new game to not be striked from this. I love your work, but I knew this was coming from the start. I dont want your work to just disappear, but if you feel like this is your right choice, then so be it. It was fun while it lasted.
That idiotic. There is shitload of case law both in EU and US where that is not the case. He doesn't use their material. He modifies it. That's entirely different thing. You can literally sell doom levels as product as long as you don't pack in them original doom assets. That's literally a case law where company made such levels and sold them and won the case. Same way I can make a desk lamp to table CDPR makes luke can make his VR mod. DMCA is illegal in this way.
Hey Luke, just wanted to note two things here: 1.) Legal precedent in this case is firmly on your side; see Galoob v. Nintendo (9th cir. 1992). The core of that analysis was that the product modified gameplay in real time, did not create any durable copies, did not incorporate any of the game’s original source code or assets, and worked with multiple games rather than being built on the foundation of a single title. Sound familiar? 2.) You can file DMCA counter-notices with Patreon to rebut these strikes. This is a “put up or shut up” response: the publisher claiming infringement has 14 days to file a formal lawsuit or they’re acknowledging the strike is invalid. Strikes which have counter-notices do not count against you for Patreon’s repeat-infringer analysis. There is of course some risk to this approach that CDPR might actually sue you, but the precedent is sufficiently clear (and you should communicate that to them so they can’t say they didn’t know) that it would be a losing lawsuit. And the fact that you notified them in advance would put you in a very strong position to recoup fees and damages if they choose to sue you anyway. That makes this an exceptionally poor risk from their POV, and publishers generally do not sue middleware companies for exactly this reason. The key is to ensure that you are framing your software properly in discussions with CDPR as generic middleware with game-specific compatibility patches, not as a game-specific “mod” (which could be contested as a derivative work). This accords with how it actually works in practice, so I don’t think that will be hard. This isn’t formal legal advice and you should consult an attorney before making a move here. But I strongly suspect you’re in a more solid position than you think.
Not a lawyer, but I also personally believe Luke is in a strong position to win the case, and probably CDPR wouldn't risk sueing.
Luke, could you please share a link via your subscriber's mailing list for Baldur's Gate 3? Some of us did not get a chance to download your latest great fix before everything was removed... Like others, I have viewed your monthly subscription cost as a meager support mechanism for your superb ongoing development, not as a transaction for any one game. A paywall is a great way to get more people to contribute and stabilize development funding. Most people do NOT contribute when something is provided without cost, as demonstrated by Nexus mods and the old 3D Vision community. Beyond game fixes, some REAL framework enhancements are subtle but very appreciated, like your FOV optimization and DLSS work (not aligned with any one game). Brandon's support has been outstanding, as well! The 3D Vision modding community experimented with various funding mechanisms for over a decade. For example, DHR briefly established a contribution threshold value for his mods that had to met before he released the mod. Most modders relied solely on contributions (at least one considered a paywall), but the contributions were generally meager, and most users did not participate in funding. Eventually, most of the key modders left the community, migrating to paid positions in a related business (job beats hobby). No game developer ever challenged the 3D Vision mods, issuing a DMCA violation, by the way.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!
The only reason I bought Cyberpunk for PC was to use this mod. CDPR are crazy. All these mods do is convince people to buy and continue to play these games.
Hi Luke and Brandon!!! I am so sad too and hope you will find a way to continue your amazing work! Like others I thank you Luke for everything praying it is not over and Brandon for your video and narrative skills and for your support. You not just sell a mod, you created a community, a real one! And like others I will support both of you no matter what!!! I am ready to pay more if I need. You have my sincere salute 🫡 and trust me when I say I’ll be there like numerous of us!!! Real Mod won’t die!
It’s funny how CD Project RED started by pirating games and selling them on CD back in the day!
Hello...just wanted to chime in on my support for the REAL VR mod, which has provided me with hundreds of hours of entertainment playing games I would never have purchased otherwise (Cyberpunk 2077, Avatar Frontiers of Pandora, Doom the Dark Ages, The Last of Us). I also wanted to point out that the mod itself is not the only reason I subscribe to Luke's patreon; the support I get from Brandon and others is more than worth the monthly subscription cost. I know the legal issues are...thorny...and I'm sure this has been considered, but perhaps providing the mods for free and a paywall for support and user forums is an option...in any case, I will continue to subscribe moving forward, and best of luck!
Luke, I can imagine the stress and frustration but rest assured, your work has value and as you can see by the comments here and elsewhere, there are a lot of people that appreciate all the effort that you have put into both the mod and the community. From what I have glimpsed, a lot of people do not understand the scope, complexity or benefits of the REAL VR mod. I suspect some haven't even tried it, but such is the way of mob mentality. As we've seen with 'modern' topics in recent years, there is a lot of transient volatility out there. But do not let that get to you, sir. Even if fickle 'allies' suddenly turn their backs on you due to their audience's misguided pressure. We, the people supporting your ideas have seen your commitment to this endeavor time and time and again and we know you put in an immense amount of work. And most importantly, you've delivered, BIG TIME. Take some time to strategize, mull things over and prepare for what comes next. You are a pioneer in this genre and one of the most influential mod developers nowadays. You are working in the cutting edge of entertainment technology and doing so enterprisingly independent, it is a big deal. Naturally, none of that is easy, but you've made it work this far. So, keep going.
well said. Agree!
...Scattering the dust and clearing the pathways to collective greatness... Dear Luke, I have been following the recent developments regarding the DMCA notices from CDPR and 505 Games. While these situations are incredibly stressful, I believe this is a pivotal moment for you to transition from a "creator under fire" to a formal business partner. Based on the current climate, this strike is not a death sentence; it functions more as a regulatory "time-out" designed to avoid costly lawsuits. Approached with a steady, professional mindset, this crisis could turn into a golden opportunity. The current impasse provides a platform to demonstrate the mod’s added value. 1. What's already on y(our) side: Proven ecosystem: Your VR framework drives sales of the base game and provides significant added value, as demonstrated by the massive enthusiasm of players and their willingness to support high-quality VR development. Acknowledging complexity: Maintaining AAA-quality VR support requires professional funding and resources beyond what a hobbyist model can sustainably provide. Unleashing the Tech: While the mod already works independently, cooperation with the studios’ technical teams would unleash deep VR optimizations. This would lower the hardware entry level for players, making the VR experience accessible to a much broader market. The "VR Hype" Factor: A sanctioned VR version could drive massive interest and significantly larger sales for the publishers. 2. Proposing a funding plan: Move the conversation toward a structured arrangement that benefits both their IP and your development costs. 3. The path to formal licensing: To secure y(our) future, there is a clear path toward a B2B (Business-to-Business) model: Incorporate: Establish a formal legal entity for your software. License your Tech: Instead of charging users directly for access to their IP (which triggered the DMCA), seek to license your framework to the studios. Service & Support: Offer to provide dedicated updates and support for their specific titles in exchange for licensing fees or royalties. This makes you an asset to their ecosystem rather than a liability. Professional Accountability as a Strength: Building a bridge requires recognizing that while your talent is undeniable, strategic foresight is what secures it. By acknowledging the publishers' rights now, you gain the leverage to negotiate a "sanctioned" or "official" status. The community loves your work —deeply— and the industry clearly sees its impact. Don't let this be the end of the road. Let it be the beginning of a formal business venture where you are compensated fairly and legally for your expertise. Wishing you the best for this next chapter...
luke if you consider coming back to vr modding the best thing you can do right now is leave patreon , host your own site and store front , advertize it as an injector or 3d driver, with off site game profiles , and add some protection to stop piracy , the pervious games you made are a lost cause they are being shared in the open on discored and the server mods are apparently completley fine with it dont bother yourself with the old stuff, its not worth it to be on patreon anymore , your supporters will follow you
I continue to support you, no matter what. The stupidity of these Corpos is gigantic. And their disgusting business attitude towards their own devs and us customers is just beyond imagination. Fingers crossed you can get out of an evalanche-like momentum. I also hope we all as a community stay together and further support you.
Fuck bro.. ive subscribed a half dozen times or so.. if you have the rig to play cyberpunk in vr, 10 bucks is whatever. I know moving to a free download with donations will result in less money for you, but for the love of the mods, please do it. Ill still kick in some money when you offer support for new games that I love. Regardless of corporate greed and ip laws, they hold all the cards. Please keep the mod going because it's given me a lot of fun
I really hope all settles good and we will be able to enjoy your work again. As someone before me said...I bought the games from the support list, just to be able to play them in VR. So you actually made money for these people.
Same. I counted 11 games that I only bought because this software supported them. Cyberpunk and RDR2 included.
I don't understand if the game companies state VR isn't worth the investment due to user base. Luke creates a mod for Flat screen games and asks for $10 a month for access to 40 Flat screen games to play in VR and now the companies are making a big deal about it. This isn't company greed it's plan stupid. The only game I would have purchased would have been Doom the dark ages without a VR mod and would have played in 3D on my projector with SuperDepth 3D and before I retired I worked in the in a computer hardware lab at three different game companies.
i will keep supporting , your Mods have given me some of my best experiences i have ever had in games , the first time i tried it was CP 2077 , blew my mind , the uncharted games , the detail you miss on flat screen compared to VR is next level , i really hope you can keep going its such a shame these companies cannot work with you and not against you.
Thank you for making the mod. It was work every penny.
This whole situation is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. We actually have VR enthusiasts arguing online that, because the mod costs the same as two cappuccinos, they're determined to deny themselves the ability to play AAA games in VR. Morons.
It costs two cappucinos the first time, but every time you want updates (a patch breakse the game, a new game is added) you need to pay it again, and again, and again. That's a lot of cappuccinos might give me a heart attack. But seriously, I have spent probably hundreds of dollars on this mod, over the years (mostly because of my desire to support Luke's work, but still). I do not regret spending even a cent of those dollars, but saying that this mod costs "two cappucinos" is an oversimplification at best, and a dishonest representation at worst. On the other end of the spectrum, Luke's haters say that it costs "120$ a year to play CP77 in VR", which also is dishonest. And lastly, there is a humongous negative sentiment towards paid mods in the vast majority of the gaming community - that, and it gives greedy corpo a perfect excuse for a wrongful DMCA strike (profiting off of their IP without their consent, or even against their lack of consent, like in the case of CP77). Luke must have known all about these risks, but he paywalled his mod anyway, and now the chickens have finally came home to roost (In a sense). CDPR clearly stated in their "fan contend guidelnes" that they forbid paid mods. I don't agree with this stance, but it is their game and their right to set the rules around it. If someone wilingly breaks rules, they must deal with the fact that it may bite them in the behind at some point. I still support Luke and I did not cancel my patreon pledge, but I think that right now Luke is his own worst enemy, he may think he is doing damage control, but from the outside it looks like just doing damage to his own cause.
A question beside the recent shitstorm, do anyone know, if the latest update from Avatar (Jan 22) is breaking Luke´s mod or are we fine with the update?
Works fine :)
I'm really sorry about all that's going on. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help!
What would really help imho, would be to pitch CDPR and 505 to make a mutual beneficial agreement with Luke, instead of forcing him to release his mod for free, or shut it down. Real vr is not a mod in the traditional sense. It does not use code or assets from CDPR. It's more like a presentation 3D driver. I am sure, in court Luke would win this case, as there is similar precedence. You could also help VR as a whole, by pitching CDPR to do an official Flat2VR mod for Witcher 3 instead of CP2077. Luke tried to make a VR mod for Witcher 3 and was not able technically. With access granted to source code, it would be much easier. The pitch you made for CP2077 looks to me more like trying to profit from the situation.
I'm here to support you. Hopefully you can find a way to make your VR mod available for free. I honestly don't mind that people who aren't donating can play. That's kind of how it works with the Team Beef Patreon. In that case, we get early access to their VR mods as they are in development. We can help play test them and give feedback, and when things are ready, they just put it up for the general public for free. I really appreciate all your hard work.
+1
I have purchased almost all the games on your mod list, many of which I wouldn’t have given a single cent to without VR. You have literally sold games for these folks and they punish you! And Redditors cheer it on because they want everything for free! That being said, I haven’t downloaded in many months. I wish I could find the latest one that has the most game support before all the drama.
I want to support you, let me pay for this month even if you don’t give us another game conversion.
Thanks a lot CDPR for destroying something of incredible value to the people for basically no reason. Well done idiots.👍
HI , i wonder why gamers dont file a class action suit against game producers related to mandatory updates. If i buy a game, the is running fine, i dont want to have additional content nagging me. So summon up to fight back . Even they say a bought game does not belong to the buyer that just BS .The decision if you let some one download fies on your computer should not be on site of those that want to squeeze additional mone from you. I bought the game as is i dont buy a game to update.
So glad I got to play a complete play though of CP2077 using the mod, one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had despite my low end rig not giving me the full beans experience.
Patreon is usually stabbing people in the back for political reasons and opinions but as I can see they're not even trying to stand with people that are making them all their money (creators like YOU). Maybe there's another platform that will have your back, I've heard there are some... Wish you (and us) the best luck and thank you for everything. 🙏😔
That's so bad that we (VR lovers) are not enough to start a boycott of all those greedy developers who seems to only care about money and don't give a sh.. about what players want. They really deserve that Karma strike them hard. At CP 2077 launch, things were not goin,g well and they are lucky things get better for them. At that time, I was hoping they will get out of this dire situation. But today, I really hope their next game will have so much problem that they will lose lot of money and pay for their greediness. I hate greedy people. Shame on them. And I really wish you will be able to get over this situation.
I don't need a free month, this C&D thing is part of the journey, I wanna suport you, I guess you have now that $20.000 lifestyle, and you have to keep it :P I wish you made $100.000 per month or more, like soccer players, but bacause of haters that want everything free is not posible. When a moddder releases a free mod, that's a gift, not a right for the user.
Luke, I hope this isn’t the end, because your mods have changed the gaming world forever. I have a request: Even with everything on hold, could you share a list of supported games on your page? It would be great if, after clicking on something like FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, information appeared on how to install the mod, etc. This would be incredibly helpful for long-time subscribers who already have your mods and want to try playing something other than CP2077. May the Force be with you, Luke.
love your work man will continue to support , the only reason i got into vr is your mods , if you are open for ideas , go the vorpx route , an injector software is paied , game profiles free community driven , with early access profiles paied , and voting privileges also paied , i think its a better way to handle this mess
Sorry Luke. As a longtime supporter, this deeply saddens me. You rock and I hope we can continue the journey somehow. If not, talent like yours needs to be employed at the helm of some 'official' vr port studio, as you have been making magic for these games and breathing new life into them. As far as 'mods' go -- the LukeRoss VR mods will always be some of my favorite of all time. From GTAV to RDR to CP2077 to FFVII, DDA, so many others, your mods have been a gaming Renaissance for me, prompting me to finish all these games from front to back, all in VR. I had GTA for years and only got hooked once I could be in the game with REALVR. I'm waist deep in compatible games I'll still be working through til they don't work anymore. I've been a dev myself since the DK1 days respect the shit outta of what you have done for VR. Please continue the fight and if not, know that you provided the fledgling VR community with a lot of happiness.
I give you a couple solutions as this business model is obviously came to an end. I've supported you for years so i had no problems paying those 10 bucks/month even if i think that it's a bit too much, if you look aroound for the few "paid" mods that are still alive, nobody is asking that much, considering it's a monthly fee. By the way... Solution n.1 you could release a software, that you have to pay for, pretty much like Vorpx, and a list of compatible games, and you can decide wich business model you want to adopt, i mean you can pay one off but to stay updated you need to subscribe, or pay for upgrades... you name it. The only thing you have to change for this software to be something that nobody can claim for is to let that "injection" work everywhere, and then you'll fine tune for specific games flagging those as compatible while keeping the others that "could" work but without all bells and whistles that you had to do to specific games to let them work as we all know. If they attack you they have to attack vorpx too and tons of other software that inject to games, like wemod etc... Solution n.2 Make it free and keep Patreon only for Support for your mods and for volounteers donators, see at Mutar, he's already stated he will release everything public, you do not have to github, it's your work after all, keep it closed sourced if you want but if you keep the patreon to a more reasonable price in the order of 3/5 euro/month i'll be more than happy to keep it as long as i live or at least as long as i'm interested in vr gaming (that is probably up until there will be holograms) both solutions will keep you rewardedand with the addition that the first solution will probably allow you to resurrect even take-two mods... Not sure if you will be able to keep your 10/20/30k monthly status (who knows, since that article you masked subscribers on patreon), but i'm sure you've got enough cash to try some alternatives and reinvest on yourself to let you keep doing your wonderful work. Best wishes for you and good luck
OMG! I'm so sorry, it was excellent work. I hope you continue to delight thousands of players because that's certainly been the case for me all these years. Thanks again for everything and I wish you all the best, my friend.
“Gamers” never fail to depress me, and Corpos are gonna Corpo no matter what. Luke, if you happen to read this please know that your code has given me hundreds of hours in the best VR experience I’ve had since getting my first HMD in 2017, and I really appreciate it. I hope things eventually work out for you. Many thanks for your work over the years.
I own 37 of the games supported by this mod. I've completed 21 of them, so only 16 to go! I only play games in VR. I would not have bought a single one of these games if it were not for this mod. Bean counters clearly don't understand how mods like yours only increase their sales. I subscribe every few months to get updates. I just tried to resubscribe to show my support, but it's not letting me. I get the message "You cannot edit your pledge while the creator has paused their membership." Anyway, hope when the dust has settled you can find a way to continue your awesome work supporting the VR community.
Luke, I don't think there's anything left to say. You've done and kept doing a wonderful job. For people saying it's too much paying monthly, they should then think of their other subscriptions (Streaming services, etc). Most people with a stable income can afford staying subscribed to support your efforts, or they can hop on and off as they need to. Stay strong, if there's a will then there's a way. Looking forward to your next steps.
Such a shame, I can't be the only person that only bought some of these games because I can use you mod to play in vr, probably wouldn't have bothered otherwise. Lose lose for everyone. Hope you get things sorted out. Come back stronger.
All the best - i really hope, you can go on delivering VR support for flat games.
Man, I will follow you to the dark web, Luke. All us gamers can pass the word, rebrand and bust out in the dark, with dark sunglasses and a black hoodie. Mr. Digital Fix. I got Tor all warmed up and ready to go. It's a damn shame that people didn't get a grab on the corporate collar in the 90s when it all started to blow up. They have gotten to big, and now stopping them would take all of us. Their greed is everywhere in everything. They control the food, the fuel, the energy, the communication. The people should have put a hard stop on it when the fortune 500 companies start popping up all over the place. All those hundreds of billion dollars belonged to us until they ganked us out of it. It was evil from the start.
Tough season. Hopefully the ever fickle gaming community, and the corporate bean counters, will return to completely ignoring the VR community again as soon as possible.
You probably should have not made this post, it really makes you sound like a whiney child. I'm glad I stopped paying, it was getting expensive over the months for a VR mod that merely "ok". You're really only pissed about the severe drop in income now that you have to play by the rules. Suck it up and move on.
is there a button to ban people ? use it on this dude. unbelievable.
I don't know what to say Luke, this is f***ing ridiculous. Keep us posted on what your next move is, my work situation is a little sketchy at the minute but I continue to pay subs on the months I can spare it and will gladly setup a rolling donation if you go down that route. Your VR mods at top drawer. I'm going to miss the out of the blue emails with blinders like DG. Don't let the bas***ds keep you down
The VORPX route idea seems the best. But the difference between vorpx and this mod is the delivery method, vorpx hooks in after the game is done with its rendering using a separate app, you can delete the game and the app still functions separately. LRM changes files in the game folder and won't work without the game. If Luke can make a similar external app that's paid for and has the game modifying files as free mods on another site, it might work, but it should be a licence with maybe updates as DLC? Still relying on modding the game for the main app to actually be usable though, so could be a grey area, maybe more like emulator territory.
>LRM changes files in the game folder and won't work without the game. Doesn't matter. Only what matters is if he ships CDPR assets with his mod. USER modifies game files and USER is entirely lawful to do that. No company can prevent users from modyfing their game. What his VR mod does is to hook like VORPX into memory otherwise it wouldn't work. It's clear case law that CDPR is wrong here.
this friggin sucks…regardless of what happens,I’d like to continue as a paid member,your mods over the years has brought a perpetual smile to my face and more importantly,it’s kept me too preoccupied from offing myself…so in that sense you’ve been a literal life saver for me🙂👍🏽
I rarely post on Patreon but wanted to throw some more appreciation on the pile. Flat to VR mods have been carrying PCVR for years now, and REAL Mod is one of the big pillars carrying flat to VR so thank you for the years of hard work for the community. Whatever path you end up taking I hope it involves continuing to mod in some form or another even if at a slower pace. It certainly will be appreciated by many many in this hobby, as it has already. All the best.
Hi Luke, how about hosting your own site and using stripe or similar for monthly access payments? Can't be that hard to set up? Would be less of a bother for you
With your coding talent and spec-kit you could probably get it all done in less than a week https://github.com/github/spec-kit
Please continue the good work that you do ... i can't imagine playing games like KCD 2 without your mod .. we will continue to support you and i hope that you will sort this out
Rebrand. The suits will take another decade to find you again ;P I, on the other hand, will find you immediately.
This is incredibly disheartening. Developers aren't providing VR versions, and these mods require a time investment that just isn't sustainable as a free passion project. Once the dust settles, perhaps consider a paid early access to free public release model. It’s a proven middle ground that satisfies the "free mod" requirement publishers demand, while maintaining a clear incentive for us to stay subscribed and support your time. Or perhaps even better, paywall DLSS support or other 'premium' features', as someone else suggested in the comments. For me, the DLSS support is essential and I think many/most would pay for the improved version of the mod.
That really sucks man. My support isnt going anywhere though.
I hope you will be able to continue your work. I had the greatest gaming time in my live with your mods in VR, especiallly CP2077 but all the other games too. If you are really taken down and stop producing your mod, I guess I have to overthink my future investment of the Steam Frame. Then VR really is going to die. I wish you and Brandon all the best. I hope you guys continue.
I came here first time last Friday for Dark Souls Remastered. And daem, Shit hit the fan. CD PROJECT should have hired you instead of this. I agree that this mod would not exist if not paywall thats why I'm here, the constant fixes for breaking updates requires this kind of model. It's shame it had to end this way. I didn't have time to support you longer, but I'm glad I did. Thank you💜
Release the mods!
Luke maybe you should rebrand and follow in the footsteps of vorpX calling it a VR-3D driver instead of a mod for the respective games? I don't think they've ever been hit with legal actions, at least nothing public, despite selling their software for almost 13 years Edit: An additional note, if you went with this then you could have the driver framework here on Patreon and the game specific profiles with their notes on installation/removal and common issues on an external website. Maybe one where we have to sign in with Patreon to get access to it. That way the DMCA notices (hopefully none) go to your site where you'll still need to remove the profile, instead of risking getting your whole Patreon account deactivated
Hmmmm 🤔
i always say luke's VR mods are what make VR worth having.
Nuance is dead and this is why we can't have nice things, apparently. Thanks Luke, REAListically, the games you supported brought me the most joy out of my VR devices for years now. The white horse misdirected outrage of the VR community and the sloppy reporting surrounding this is utterly disheartening for the future of the platform.
I enjoy your work Luke, its sucks these assholes are doing this. You got my support .
This sucks man. I really hope this all blows over. Fuck the angry basement dwellers demanding that something you spend so much time on NEEDS to be free.
The biggest legal problem with all this seems to be that it's classified as a "mod". Cdpr claiming derivative work and such is nonsense but the only way to fight that is in court for millions, and they know it which is why they do it. But this isn't a mod in the sense of what the suits and lawers likely understand a mod to be. It's middleware like a keymapper or peripheral driver. If you could hook into the runtimes without using the mod interface, and rebrand as a clearly stand alone retail software package rather than as a game mod it would likely avoid some legal contention. Like game genie. They had their own legal issues of course unrelated. The other issue is that would involve needing to incorporate and directly sell software, and have liability insurance and legal, as this being paywalled and full time is really commercial software and patron isnt set up to handle this. Other solutions is go open source, still charge, as free isn't as in beer, and see if FSF could help with legal defense. Alternately would it help to release the mods as free but paywall features? Like dlss support? Or high res. Aerv2? You rightly mentioned that some pubs go after even free mods so separating yourself from being a mod at all (stand alone engine) might be most helpful. But I should think most publishers would be placated by a free mod that also sells features like dlss via plugin. Also remember this is mostly tort. It cost them $0 to send dmca notices to every mod with their name am ai feeds their inbox. It costs millions to defend against it. So it's fiat rule by the corps. Absolute power except against other corps. But I also recall the free mod 2k went after after you. The dev had the brass ones to challenge them, and won easily. If you're running this as a business I think it's going to need lawyers. And payment outside patreon. Otherwise see what mod nexus or open sourcing and working with fsf can do. Lastly if you do walk away, please consider open sourcing to the community so others might pick up the torch. You've created something excellent that vr fans have gained so much from. I've bought 20+ games exclusively because of your engine. Hopefully you'll figure out a way that works. I had thousands of wonderful hours ahead of me using your engine now looking like it will be lost in time
>The other issue is that would involve needing to incorporate and directly sell software, It does not. Names do not change law. LUKE does not pack CDPR assets and user has to modify game secondly it's in memory hack so it's pristine clean for Luke. There is shitload of case law on his side.
Damn... been here since day 1. Still am. You have been making the VR REAL, vs some potential VR, or once in a while something comes along VR. I remember when there was only like 100 some odd patrons and like 8 bucks (barely welfare). You were still doing it. When GTA V was the best thing ever in all of VR for free. You were still doing it. Even when they kill GTA, red dead, and mafia. You were still doing it. Cyberpunk? (Beyond brutal) You were still doing it. F the jealous ass haters. Your time and quality of work is hands down worth it. Hope we get past this. MUCH LOVE!
Such a shame, I even upgraded my PC after first experiencing CP2077 in VR to get a better experience, there was something magical about cruising around on autopilot and just watching the digital world go by. I know I’ll still be able to do the same as long as there aren’t any major updates, but it sucks for anyone who wasn’t able to get in, especially with VR seemingly gaining more traction or the Steam frame coming on the horizon. The online space is chronically negative and people seem to be parroting half truths while defending their oppressors, sad times.
I'm honestly still trying to learn my way around and now that they've pulled the cyberpunk 2077 I don't know of any other games to try
So what does this mean going forward? Honestly I just figured out this existed because of the cyberpunk 2077 mod. Was getting ready to try it when it got pulled. So what now? What's still safe to play?
All games on the mod list prior to removal are safe to play. If you want to continue playing them in VR dont officially patch them.
Words can't express the sadness right now. Luke you have brought me more joy from countless hours in VR than anything in my life right now (if my girlfriend reads this im a dead man). I know the decision you have made didnt come lightly and you are doing what is right for you so with huge respect and from the bottom of my heart Thank You So much. Im not saying goodbye im saying good luck, i believe you will be back as VR just wouldnt be the same without you, and to all the haters GET FU.... no calm down i promised myself i wouldnt let them get to me, but this is not about me this is about you my friend, it has been an absolute privelage to witness your genius and to be able to support you over the years. In the words of Jeremy Bailenson who said it best "With VR, we don't just observe we experience." Take care Luke []-D
only Luke knows, if he knows, who are the REAL long term supporters and how many of them are there - those who would continue their contributions even if the mod was free. many jump in and out, but how many are true fans and stay, even if its not necessary to pay? Only one way to find out and let it run for 4-6 months - see who puts money where their mouth is. If its not working so fk it, go back to payable solution and no one be angry only those who want free lunch and they dont deserve the mod anyway. just an option.. 2. if the premise here is that mods need to be free by selected publishers it would be good to have them free and keep the base happy or add some titles which demand the mod to be for free to feed the masses and keep the traction and reputation and reach - and keep the other titles behind payable wall - tough one. requires good navigating skills through shark invested waters now..
Could you at least put the webpages back up that have the instructions for how to install the mod correctly, how to adjust the settings and where to install the mod for people who have paid previously and have previous versions. Take off the download links? Most of us have your mod already, but may just need the walk-through.
The studios benefitted from you by selling games they would not otherwise have sold. Cyberpunk, Ghostwire Tokyo, Far Cry 4, Far Cry 5, Far Cry New Dawn, Far Cry 6, Death Stranding, Days Gone, Stray, and even back in the day Red Dead Redemption 2 ... ... *all* of these, ... I *only* purchased because there was a VR mod available. As you can expect, I feel pretty frosty toward Rockstar for taking away the great experience with RDR2 and GTA5 you had enabled. Deleted them when your mod was taken down and game updates broke it. Feels like Rockstar stole the money I paid. Hopefully you can work something out. A free release with optional donations may be worth trying: though some people may be subscribing only for access, you may find a wider audience will use the mods if they are freely available, and perhaps can drive a reasonable level of support through donations. It might also be smart to separate the mods into separate releases so actions by one studio don't affect games from studios with more permissive views on allowing players to enjoy their games in different mediums.
Dude, you have to open this up and make it so it’s not behind a pay wall. That’s all they’re asking you to do. Just make it free and have a donation line. You’re still gonna make money off of your work! Seriously, what are you doing?
100%
You're walking a tightrope here dude. No matter what, you're going to piss off one of the sides here. I think people fail to realize that they are not necessarily paying for the mod, they are paying for your time. Now they want you to dedicate those countless hours for free. Fk that, fk them. If you're good at something, never do it for free. You don't owe those basement dwellers anything.
Darn, I was too slow to get Baldur's Gate before this all went down. I was excited about that one. Hopefully there is a solution moving forward. I'm a new supporter (subscribed for Elden Ring, which is incredible), but I would donate if it became that model.
Hey Luke, so sorry to see the recent DMCA wave. Have you considered moving toward an open-source community mod similar to Praydog's approach? Shifting to a collaborative project could help protect the work while allowing you to keep a donation link or Ko-fi for those who want to support your specific time and expertise. It seems like a solid way to keep these VR experiences alive while avoiding the constant legal targets. I’ve been supporting you since day one, and I’ll continue to do so regardless of what happens next. Thanks for everything you’ve built for us!
The comments on Reddit are insane. A bunch of corporate bootlickers attacking the one guy that is giving us what we want. Game companies don’t give a shit about VR players and they’re bending over for them.
Yes, tried to oppose. Obviously most of them are not even vr players let alone ever played one of Luke‘s mods.
the online derp brigade discourse around this is such fuckin bullshit
Hi Luke. I have been a Patreon of you since day 1. For me this support has never been transactional in that I am "paying" you to access your mod. Rather I have been supporting you financially so that you can spend your time making great mods for myself and the rest of the community to enjoy. I have never cared if your mod was behind a paywall or not, I even suggested to you that making the mod or a version of it freely available would be nice some time ago. Maybe now is the time to say "fuck it" and throw it all out their for anyone to access Patreon supporter or not. I cant speak for anyone else here, but I at least am more than happy to continue supporting you and your work for all of our benefit. I hope that their are enough others who think the same as I that you can continue working full time on the R.E.A.L VR mod. Chill for a couple of weeks before you do anything too permanent.
that's an option too. I don't think long time supporters would leave if the files were free, but really, it's hard to say. Like how many just jump in for a month and then leave, and maybe come back once in a while for new games? Patreon would then basically be just donations, but could also be an "early" access which would also work. Ex, Mod comes out to Patreon users as a "work in progress" like 2 months early before the "completed" fix would be given free, and also if you want support then you need to be a Patreon member too. This is one of MANY options. Luke just has to decide what's best for him.
You should have made the mods free and added a donation button. I wish you'd done that when you had to remove GTA, in that other words you'd still be making that one better and it'd be great. I'd have donated. Now there's nothing to look forward to but more takedowns. I'm cancelling my membership instead. Goodbye.
If you read the post, the GTA mod was always free, and they tried to take it down anyways. He didn't even ask for donations for it. It is a deeper issue than that but for some reason that is all some people want to see. Appreciate the support though! Best wishes in your future VR experiences :)
While I generally agree with the principles of DMCA and think this mod existed very much in a legal "grey area", I really wish publishers would be more open to blessing good mods like this that clearly require more work than just spare time passion projects. Take Black Mesa as an example. The reality is, without full time dedication REAL never would've existed or never would've been as good as it is. I wonder if other publishers are just happy to say nothing and let REAL continue, as it benefits them... not unlike a positive parasite(!). What's the reality going forwards? Option 1, Luke gets a part time job and spends half his time on REAL using a donation model. Progress will be lower, but hey, there'll still be a mod and another income. Option 2, a full time job and progress may be virtually nil. Accordingly, donations may slow to a trickle. Hopefully you can land a job in the VR industry, but it comes across like you're burning bridges at the moment. I will say that maybe 50% of the justification for buying a 5090 rig was to play Cyberpunk in VR, my favourite game of all time. So thank you.
I also only upgraded to a 5090 to play games using this mod.
These mods have really changed just about everything about how I see gaming. It's truly a shame but I'm sure the great Luke Ross will figure something out. But in the meantime, you must know that everyone on this page appreciates the hell out of you including me. You literally had such a positive impact on my gaming experience at a time when I really needed that so thank you so much for everything!! All the love man!
I wish I knew what the best solution for everyone was. But what I can say is that I'm only interested in gaming in VR. I only buy games that are VR or have a decent VR mod. So, Luke's work does sell more copies of those games. I would hope that the popularity of this Patreon would be an indicator that studios need to start including VR support officially in their games, but if they can't afford to do it from scratch with their own team or a new team... reach out to the expert modders, and VR developers that have been doing it for years. You know, the people already familiar with the codebase, that don't need to be 'ramped up'.
I support you Ross, thank you for all the fish. This is not the end, we must adapt and evolve.
You're putting yourself in a corner. The sooner you make the product free and in place of a paywall have a button for donations, the sooner this madness will end, and most if not all of the developers will leave you alone. You're also isolating yourself, and many long term Patreon's and supporters are starting to get annoyed - people who would gladly donate to you are starting to walk away and won't come back with donations even if you *did* offer it to them for free. There is a growing community of people pirating your work that is unprecedented to the months and years prior - they are doing it out of spite at this point. In regard to these companies and their DMCA requests; as far as they are concerned, you are using their apparatus as a means to enrich yourself, and regardless of the politics and culture in place in regard to what's right, who's rich, power structures, etc. it's rightfully their IP to protect, and (or) destroy, just like this is your project to protect, and (or) destroy. The best path forward would be the path of least resistance, even if it resulted in you taking a financial hit. Destroy the paywall and start accepting donations. It's the immediate solution that'll take you out of the sights of many developers and fans and put you back in good standing. There is still time to correct the ship. I have been following this story on X, Reddit, and your Patreon. The consensus hasn't been on your side, despite a few acolytes toughing it out. Most people are upset at both CDPR and the LRVR Patreon equally. You have the chance to come out of this like a hero, there is still time, but the longer you wait the less likely it is that you'll have continued support from the people who would gladly put money in your pocket. You did great work, it was an amazing time for VR, and I've been a supporter under this account for almost two years, and my previous account for a year before that. I will keep showing up and paying you donations if you make it free and even help fund your legal battles as things move forward. Rooting for you, buddy.
The man needs time to figure out how to react and proceed. The consensus on x and reddit etc don't matter. His supporters do, which is exactly why he is taking time to try and find the best way forward. Free is probably the answer you like but it is more complicated than that. It will take time to separate things. I think putting things on pause for a bit to get things figured out is fair. It's also fine to share your opinion, but stop trying to rush him. Let the man take a breath and think please.
Luke has created tremendous work and deserves all the money, credit, etc that is deserved. The false narrative that modding should be free is why most modders quit. Donationions will not provide a steady income to allow for full time "modding". The community response has been sickening to say the least. The DMCA can be abused by anyone with a big enough bank account unfortunately but at least until this point most companies realized that the mods are helping sell more copies of said games, but for some reason, after all these years, CDPR decides the mod is bad for them.......Nothing makes sense from this. I think anything said is just going to fuel the fire, and best action is silence as anything said will be twisted against you. There are MANY options to be explored, and I'm sure you'll bounce back. Thanks again. EDIT: adding this from a response to another poster as it may be useful......Can't do crowdfunding either. As that's a promise of a product which again would include game fix's that can then be DMCA anytime. VorpX route is the safest. Charge fee for software only, and release all "mods" for free. This can usually get around DMCA from most legal standpoints, but you never know with these companies.....Seems like Patreon doesn't really have creators best interests in mind and folds right away. Seperating the the actual files AWAY from Patreon would be very good idea. EX, hosting a google drive and sending links to newest releases directly to users email vs. posting ANYTHING on Patreon. That way Patreon remains, and users can come here to chat, for news, and support-thanks Brandon. While not hosting ANY files. That way there is nothing for them to take down.
I completely agree. Keep your spirits up. EDIT: The crowdfunding idea was just to show that Luke's work is truly worthwhile. As for VorpX (which I also bought at one point), as far as I know, it's a paid product, and I highly doubt he's paying royalties to the game creators. As I mentioned in my post, I wouldn't call what Luke does a "MOD." Otherwise, I completely agree with you. Cheers.
Hi Luke. The world is definitely going crazy. I've been following you on Patreon for years. I know, I come and go. I mean, I leave for a month and come back the next. What they're doing to you is unbelievable. For my part, from Spain, I'll be sharing this post on VR-focused YouTube channels. I can't even imagine the effort, the hours, the people who have supported and helped you (like Brandom, for example) to earn the two euros you can make doing what you do. Yeah, what companies say costs them... How much? 50,000? It seems like a joke. I'm sure that if you did a Kickstarter or some other crowdfunding campaign at this point, you'd earn enough to tell video game companies, "See, people are interested in VR." In my case, I don't play PC games, and I never have until I discovered VR. My first PC experience with anything resembling 3D was with shutter glasses on a CRT monitor back in the nineties :-) At this point, I'm going to back up all the games I have that use your MOD (a misnomer, I'll get to that in a moment), which is pretty much all of them, haha, to make sure that no future updates break your work.It's a misnomer because, in my opinion, you don't modify a specific game, or even the game itself. I mean, I don't see that you've changed Indiana Jones' whip into a flamethrower, for example, hahaha. What you do is expand the ways in which it can be played. The big problem here is that you've been lumped together with all the other modders (with all due respect to them, of course). Apparently, you don't have the same drive as Mark Zuckerberg, who can boost or destroy VR studios depending on his mood. I wouldn't have bought the 22 games I have on Steam if it weren't for your work. I hope all this gets resolved soon, and we can continue enjoying your work. You have my full support. You make people very happy. Big hug. Edu. P.S. If I think of anything else, I'll edit this post.
Can't do crowdfunding either. As that's a promise of a product which again would include game fix's that can then be DMCA anytime. VorpX route is the safest. Charge fee for software only, and release all "mods" for free. This can usually get around DMCA from most legal standpoints, but you never know with these companies.....Seems like Patreon doesn't really have creators best interests in mind and folds right away. Seperating the the actual files AWAY from Patreon would be very good idea. EX, hosting a google drive and sending links to newest releases directly to users email vs. posting ANYTHING on Patreon. That way Patreon remains, and users can come here to chat, for news, and support-thanks Brandon. While not hosting ANY files. That way there is nothing for them to take down.
Sending many blessings your way Luke. 🙏 Beauracracy is a stone cold killer. 🥶 You do not deserve any of the hate being thrown around so carelessly, angry mobs are def on the world's most feral list. The hive mind mentality is a truly frightening thing to experience, for the hive mind, critical thinking is as common as a sun baking vampire... makes me wonder why you don't shut up shop and just make the mods for urself and loved ones. To me it seems like there's a lot of ungrateful, malicious, spiteful parasitic infections clogging up the pipes of progress . There are many who care deeply for the work u do so try not to let the fools fool you into foolish thoughts. All that hate they spread, we all know they hate themselves the most. Chin up chinna! 🤓👊
You’re going about it the wrong way though pal. The internet will always hold a grudge forever and this will also hinder your progress over the years. Release the mod for free and work with the company, everybody wins except your ego.
This is heartbreaking, they dont give a shit about us
Thanks for all your work. Playing CP2077 over 2024-2025 was so amazing. I really hope you can support titles in the future. This was the best mod. I've been subbed for years. I understand you need to make money to continue. I do think the best course is to make it all free and let us just donate. Maybe go the way of winrar and have a 20 second begging box show up when you start the game unless we donate.. IDK. I would still pay $10/m. Which is better than zero. Fingers are crossed this isn't over. If it is.. Thanks for the great times and the great games I'm still playing because of this mod.
but no one pays for winrar...
What a disgrace. I have been a supporter for a year. Your work has given me so many hours of enjoyment over this short time. There's nothing like experiencing my favorite games along with your mods. I'm really hoping this will blow over. As soon as it is, I'd be to start supporting you again.
Exactly. These entitled idiots are now reporting Luke to everyone. It's pathetic. These fix's need to be moved away from Patreon in the future, as I had no idea Patreon would remove files without a court order. They simply take the DMCA side without even starting an investigation or anything. BS, like Copyright strikes on Youtube.
I'm sorry, it's always the same story, the envy of mediocre people ruins everything
I’ve been a supporter for years. CDProjRed has gotten so much free advertising from all of the CP2077 VR videos, and a whole other stream of folks buying a PC copy of CP2077 to run it in VR, they are being foolish. You have to buy the game to use the mod. They’ve not built in VR into the game or are selling a VR version. The whole “paid mod” contention would be like Honda taking issue with the aftermarket of parts, or telling me I can’t wrap my car or put on a brand of tires I like. The whole landscape of digital laws is broken and needs a redo. As for people bitching about the money and somehow implying that Luke is greedy and should just do all of this work for free, I have to say you are missing the realities of “adult” life. As someone having to live and support himself and loved ones, how can you think that $20k a month is some egregious and excessive amount? Have you looked at salary levels for Facebook and other companies for a senior software architect? (Much more than $240k/year) Luke isn’t operating at some low level coder level. If it was easy to do, there would be 6 other VR mods for every game his mod supports, or the game studio would build in VR themselves. But it’s not easy. There are only a couple of other mods out there, and for CP2077, Luke’s is the best of the pack. On another note, Meta or Steam should frankly call up CDProjRed and the other folks issuing DCMA reqs and tell them to stop. PC VR would be on life support without this Mod. (It really is except for flight and car sims) Luke, you’ll get this sorted. Anyone who’s played CP2077 in VR with your mod in a decent rig knows just how special what you’ve done is. There is really no similar experience available. And you f’in know that the actual devs at CDPR love their amazing game in VR also. You will succeed.
Man, that's some rough stuff. You did some great work on here and do deserve to be paid for it. My feeling would be to go donation based too.. Bit of a scary trustfall, but if you go in with the modding spirit of giving everything for the good of the community, they will have your back. Get the current situation settled, take a step back to breathe and get back to work. ✌️
You remove your mod then? I can still download it though :-)
Your smartest business move imo Luke would be to actually release this one Mod for free now. You've made some good money from it already and think about the amount of exposure it would give you
Honestly what they should do is if anyone sells a mod for a game the developer should just get a cut of the money. Like in music. If you sample a song you have to pay the original artist part of what you make. That way the developer would just be making money for doing nothing and would probably be happy with that.
Allow us the option to support you even if the mod is offline. I'll gladly keep my subscription active next month to help see you through this difficult time. Or if you have a donation link, post it. Thx
This is awful. Just another case of big corporate shitting on small businesses. So what if you were making $20k per month? If you're working on it full time, then why the hell do people begrudge you earing a good living off a fantastic piece of software. If you do end up having to take off patreon, are there any more liberal platforms? I'd still be happy to support - $10 a month is a bargain for what the mod provides. If it comes to it and you have to take it down completely, would you be prepared to open source it? I'm a software engineer and would love to work on it, and I'm sure others would too
Thank you Luke for the memories - your work is amazing and I hope some how you can continue
I’ll support you to the end. You want donations every month? They are yours. I beat FC6, I’m in the middle of days gone, avatar, and cyberpunk (just have no time). Seriously amazing. Doing this full time requires the ability to live. Period. The one question I had was what if you had the framework to be sold, but configs to the games free? Would that help alleviate some of this bullshit? Anyway, I saw a lot of the posts on Reddit - forget the hate, your work is flat out a dream come true.
Im going to be sick. This mod is amazing it changed the way I game I dont enjoy games without it I NEVER wanted to play pancake cyberpunk and I may never play cyberpunk again if its not in vr. This is atrocious.
100% agree. I've bought almost every single game Luke has modded and wouldn't have purchased them if a VR mod was unavailable. I don't play flat games, totally uninterested.
Luke, This was genuinely heartbreaking to read. I’ve been a patron for years because I believed in you and in what you were pushing VR toward. What you built really mattered — it changed how I (and many others) experienced these games. Please know the support behind you is real, whatever happens next. Thank you for everything you’ve shared with us.
Could you rebrand as a separate software platform like Wand / WeMod? They don't seem to have trouble charging.
fking idiots who impose that sh'it and those even bigger maggots thinking everyhing in life should be for free. There is always ups and downs in life - and the only way to go over a loss is a win. I am sure you will come up with a good solution - even if its not clear yet how. VR will never be a 'good bye' , it will just get new clothing and running shoes and continue on a different track. Even if this looks like a step back I am confident we will come up on top - I am sure you make it happen even if it cuts into your earnings temporalirly. Why? because you have a loyal fan base of thousands who can afford $15 per month to support the creator of the most amazing experinces ever - and even if you make all your mods for free, BIG majority of us will still support you finacially and keep the $15 rollin. I know I will. if I was you I would also think of another option than Patreon. We will follow you anywhere, just say where and we will be there. Keep your head up. There is always something positive in the negative.
Thank you for your work. I came to this wonderful world just recently, and your Cyberpunk mod is a piece of art! End of the prologue had me "crying like a bitch" , and all thanks to the VR immersion.
Oh no, terrible news Luke. Hopefully things can settle down but it looks very doubtful at the moment but thank you for all the wonderful VR experiences.
Uhhgh just awful news. I'm so sorry this has happened to you, and us. Thank you for everything you made possible
I genuinely do not understand the reactions I have been seeing online about this. Painting Luke Ross as a scumbag for not immediately releasing his work for free makes absolutely no sense to me. Even in piracy circles, where breaking a ToS is usually brushed off without a second thought, people are suddenly crucifying him and acting like he knowingly committed some unforgivable sin. What makes it even more absurd is that many of the same people who refuse to answer their boss on their day off because “I do not work for free” are now insisting that he should have given away thousands of hours of work for nothing. Overnight, people are saying things like “this is why I never liked him,” as if this situation somehow revealed a hidden moral failing. None of it adds up. Yes, the company made the game and their ToS is what it is, but where does this kind of vaguely worded enforcement stop? Are Nvidia and AMD next? They both released Cyberpunk drivers specifically for use with the game and made money selling GPUs because of it. Just like the VR mod, no assets were included. The difference is not legality, it is scale and convenience. Luke’s real VR mod took vastly more time and required ongoing work every time Cyberpunk was updated. I would not have released it for free either. People also underestimate how complicated it would be to strip out forty plus other supported games even if he wanted to, which he should not be expected to do in the first place. As a creator myself, I know donations do not work for certain kinds of work. A large portion of people believe mods should always be free, so switching to donations would likely bring in a tiny fraction of what he was making before. At that point, it might as well be entirely free, which is not sustainable. I honestly feel for Luke Ross, and I hope he realizes that not everyone is being unreasonable or reactionary about this. I might be crazy and ridiculous in general, but not about this.
Shit, just as I buy kcd2 :(
Good luck Luke and thanks for all your awesome mods! The impunity of DMCA is quite scary to deal with. Hope you can find a way to collaborate with the companies or maybe a new platform or sales model that works for you. These mods take so much work to do and we wouldn't have as many available if all mods were done for free. That is definitely one factor that caused modders to leave the 3DVision community.
Oh my God! You are the one that single handedly keeps VR alive. What if you setup an online shop where we can buy tshirts every month for like 20$ and we get a free bonus we get a CD/DVD with your mods or a download link? Or what if you release mods for free on torrents and we could keep our patreon paid subscriptions here to keep investing in the great mods you are developing? But since there would be no mods here there wouldn’t be a legal problem. Would that work? I am just playing Cyberpunk in VR with your mod and it is truly an amazing experience. I hope you will find a way to continue doing VR mods for AAA games. Otherwise I am worried about the future of VR. Since Half Life Alyx - The only games that have been truly worth playing in VR are the ones that you made mods for.
Thanks Luke for taking us to beautiful worlds!
That's some really bad news! 😒😒😔😔😔 My favorite modder! My favorite games mods. I'm really sad. Hope that everything works for the best!! Anyways Thank you very much for all the hours of fun I had and still have. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🤞🤞🤞❤️
Man this Fucking sucks! I’ve been wanting to reverse engineer your mod files and learn how it’s done. Not to release or circumvent your setup, but to help you push out more titles, as a passion project. I don’t even care about earning anything. You have created my absolute favorite way to experience games and I only want to help you expand the library. Prayers are out for you to get through this in the best possible way. I’ll leave my subscription up until you no longer have one.
I think you are legally in the right where it concerns their claims of “derivative works”: any file changes you make/include are at most database (config file) changes, and databases are not copyright-able in the US. (Though I can’t remember if your process involved binary patches? Though those can be done without carry derivative material, and so shouldn’t be assumed to be problematic by a good faith copyright holder.) What I suggest in practicality is to move to a preview build model, where (higher tier?) Patreons gain access to the most recent (“preview”) build, and older (“stable”) builds are gradually released to the public. This is how fanfictions, being derivative works, can be legally funded through sites such as Patreon completely legal: the work ultimately ends up “freely accessible” and only advanced, accelerated, unedited, preview, etc copies are exclusive. In fact, some address the legal requirement of making the derivative work eventually accessible for free by only releasing it on forums that only allow (free) members to access the posting or just the download, and which usually disallow or block search engine indexing. (The important thing is not to get in the bad graces of Patreon, as whatever model of funding you choose can be worked on with time.) Hope this finds you well and good luck. If you want more not-legal-advice, feel free to reply here or DM me.
You saw I defended you strongly on X... it is simply unbelievable that people attack you for the fantastic work you do which is worth every cent and even more. Some of those pirates act like they are big VR gamers, but simply want to take down the only modder that really delivered working VR experiences for AAA games in recent years. It makes me angry to lose a great VR / 3D stereoscopic gaming experience again. We cannot go back to flat gaming, not again. I would even say. without your mod page no one will be interested to buy another VR HMD, Steam should be aware of this or even new NVIDIA GPU - why? Take your time. Reflect, don't give up to the nasty mob. The VR haters and freaking communists pirates have always been the problem of gaming. They want everything for free, never respect the work of others.
Hey maybe remove that last part don’t want take two seeing that I’m trying to finish red dead 2 right now 😅
🤞 I have hope but it’s dwindling 😭
This is a sad day for the community 😞
Why are you so opposed to donation-based approach? VR enthusiasts who buy $6k gaming rigs + vr headsets can afford to keep you on retainer without the paywall demand, just ask about it and you got it.
See my reply to Cameron Burch below
Very sad. I remember me buying games I skipped before, just cause you built a mod. So what’s the downside for them? They are selling additional copies of their games and complain? Fucking stupid
Luke, your mods are the reason I got back into PC gaming, and I cherish all the incredible journeys I have gone on in your mods. I will continue to support you regardless of the greed of others. Thank you for everything.
Excited to see you break ground in the VR scene and work with companies. Your content is fantastic, it's just the release model that isn't. I understand you're a solo dev, and this is your source of income - but c'mon, it is so clear on the terms of almost every game you develop for that you can't paywall access to the mods. Again, a donation system would be fine, and I think lots of folks would love to contribute, me included! But, by pay walling this stuff, so much of the world is locked out of this wonderful experience. I hope to see your mods re-released soon with an option for funding, not a requirement. I think that alone will help so much with your online reputation right now - the quality of the mods speaks for itself, we just need to adhere to what folks expect when approaching the modding community, which is availability for every single player.
Consider this: Praydog is universally acclaimed as the best VR modder in existence. He is the one everybody loves, the "goat", the guy who always wins the comment section, the savior of free modding and OMG how people would donate freely to him from the very bottom of their hearts. Only not today. His Patreon has been up for a long time, yet he has 340 paid members as of this moment, for a grand total of $1,700/month. Before tax. A developer with his skills makes more than that in one day.
Thank you for All your work!
Dammmmmmn. No way!! all of your work, gone 🥺😢 I’ll be here to see what’s popping after a month though. STAY FOCUS LUKE!
I know you're going to delete this comment, but this continued crash out isn't going to do you any favours. You're trying to paint a narrative of the little guy getting crushed by the big bad corporations but the fact of the matter is you've made a higher than average salary slowly tweaking a VR modification. I respect the time and effort put in and frankly I'm not going to criticise you getting the money you did considering I'm one of the people who subscribed, but very few people are buying this pity fest and you're making yourself look worse and worse by continuously doubling down like this and now you're doing the intellectual equivalent of taking your ball and. Going home? Shameful.
I'm not going to delete any comments as long as they are made in a civil way and do not encourage piracy.
Game companies: - raise game prices - Mass layoff devs - Sue mod creators - Does everything else except actually providing quality products that gamers actually want. Johnny Silverhand was right, about everything
I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through this, man. You’re a truly talented developer. I’m increasing my pledge to $20/month moving forward and encouraging others to do the same to support you during these tough times.
Good idea. I think now it's time to step in and defend our vulnerable niche community against these vicious attacks. I myself have been layed off, but I am considering increasing my pledge.
Maybe a different platform than patreon. I know of subscribestar is one but I'm sure there is others
This is all so dumb. Copyright law is broken, obviously in favor of who can afford the best lawyers and legal fee payouts. What a shame.
You have no idea what you're talking about. These aren't his IPs and he's not entitled to being allowed to make paid mods for IPs he doesn't own.
Only just started using your mods and this is tremendously sad, I hope some sort of an agreement is made as your work has seriously elevated some of the best gaming experiences available.
Anyone wanna send me that RDR2 pack... Please lol
- Gets criticized once - fucking dies
Thank and god bless you ! 👍👃