GTA6RP33 days to GTA 6Your RP file: Lv 1, Newcomer
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A history of GTA roleplay

GTA roleplay is older than GTA V and was built entirely by fans. It began with unofficial multiplayer mods and grew into one of the most-watched genres on Twitch. Rockstar went from banning the tools to owning them. This is the story in order, with sources.

Facts come from Rockstar, Cfx.re (the FiveM team), framework documentation and major outlets. Numbers in brackets link to the sources at the bottom.

Original illustration: a history icon

History beat of the day · 2003

Multi Theft Auto begins

Multi Theft Auto started life in early 2003 as an unofficial multiplayer add-on for GTA III and later Vice City, long before Rockstar offered PC multiplayer of its own. Its San Andreas edition later added a Lua scripting engine, letting server owners build custom economies, jobs and inventories.

Read it on this page

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One moment from the timeline below each day, with the year it lists: press "Got it" to light up today.

  1. Multi Theft Auto begins

    Multi Theft Auto started life in early 2003 as an unofficial multiplayer add-on for GTA III and later Vice City, long before Rockstar offered PC multiplayer of its own. Its San Andreas edition later added a Lua scripting engine, letting server owners build custom economies, jobs and inventories.[1]

  2. SA-MP and the first RP servers

    San Andreas Multiplayer (SA-MP) shipped its first public build in May 2006, and roleplay servers where players simulate everyday life quickly became one of its main genres alongside racing and deathmatch. MTA:SA and SA-MP roleplay communities established many of the conventions (IC/OOC split, character names, rules against deathmatching) that GTA V RP later inherited.[1][2]

  3. GTA IV mods and CitizenMP:IV

    Community multiplayer projects such as IV:MP appeared for GTA IV. The developer NTAuthority teased CitizenIV (later CitizenMP:IV) around 2013; its CitizenFX codebase became the foundation for FiveM.[3]

  4. FiveM appears; Rockstar pushes back

    FiveM emerged as an alternative GTA V multiplayer client with dedicated servers. In August 2015 Rockstar banned three people linked to it from Social Club, describing it as an unauthorised multiplayer service with code that could facilitate piracy, which the team disputed. In November 2015 the lead developer said private investigators claiming to represent Take-Two visited his home.[4][5][6]

  5. Big RP servers form

    Early GTA V roleplay communities grew up on the alternative clients: Eclipse RP dates its founding to December 2016, and NoPixel moved from Arma 3 to GTA V via FiveM around 2017. The ESX framework also started in 2017, giving server owners a ready-made jobs-and-economy base.[7][8][9]

  6. The Twitch GTA RP boom

    In spring 2019 large streamers such as Summit1g started playing on NoPixel, and GTA V's Twitch viewership jumped several-fold. PCGamesN, citing Newzoo, reported 58.2 million hours watched in March 2019, and Kotaku described RP as having taken over Twitch.[10][11][12]

  7. RedM announced

    Cfx.re announced RedM, a multiplayer modification for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC, planned for about a month after the PC release. It brought the FiveM-style dedicated server model, and Wild West roleplay, to RDR2.[13][14]

  8. Tebex becomes official monetisation partner; txAdmin built in

    In March 2020 Tebex and Cfx.re announced a partnership that made Tebex the official way to take payments for FiveM servers. The same year txAdmin became a built-in part of FXServer, making server setup and management far easier.[15][16][17]

  9. 250,000 concurrent players

    Cfx.re announced 250,000 players online at once across the FiveM/RedM platform in April 2021, during the peak of the pandemic-era RP boom.[18]

  10. Rockstar publishes RP server policy

    Rockstar posted a support article saying it tolerates reasonable fan-made RP servers but listing Take-Two's enforcement priorities, including IP misuse, loot boxes, virtual-currency sales, third-party brand deals and crypto/NFTs. Outlets such as PCGamesN reported on it in November 2022.[19][20]

  11. Cfx.re joins Rockstar

    On 11 August 2023 Rockstar announced that Cfx.re, the team behind FiveM and RedM, was officially part of Rockstar Games. PC Gamer noted the irony that Rockstar had banned the same team eight years earlier.[21][22][23][24]

  12. New platform licence rules

    After the acquisition a new Platform License Agreement took effect, and servers had to remove things like real-world car brands and imported maps from other games, according to Sportskeeda's coverage.[25][26]

  13. 300,000 concurrent players

    Cfx.re's January 2024 Community Pulse reported the platform passing 300,000 concurrent players for the first time.[27]

  14. Ecosystem shifts

    Rockstar released GTA V Enhanced for PC in March 2025, while FiveM continued to run on the legacy PC build with Enhanced support in development. In April 2025 the Overextended team archived its popular ox resources, and the CommunityOx group took over maintained forks. Element Club subscriptions moved from Patreon to Cfx's own Portal.[28][29][30][31][32]

  15. Rival platforms shut down

    Take-Two sent cease-and-desist letters to rival GTA V multiplayer platforms. alt:V announced a shutdown in early 2026, and RAGE:MP announced a phased shutdown, saying Rockstar and Take-Two had told it FiveM is the only authorised GTA V multiplayer modding platform.[33][34][35]

  16. nopixel V and new Rockstar mod guidelines

    On 1 September 2026 Rockstar announced nopixel V, an officially backed NoPixel server whose closed beta was reached through the Rockstar Games Launcher from 8 September. On 10 September Rockstar published consolidated Mod Guidelines limiting multiplayer mods to its licensed Creator Platform and banning commercial activity outside it; the Creator Platform License Agreement was updated the same day.[36][37][38][39][40]

Rockstar's changing stance

Rockstar's relationship with the RP scene shows the biggest shift in the story:

What comes next

The next chapter depends on GTA 6 reaching PC and on Rockstar's plans for its Creator Platform. Neither has been announced. We track both on the server-readiness tracker.

Sources

  1. Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas (Multi Theft Auto) official
  2. Servers - San Andreas Multiplayer (sa-mp.mp)
  3. CitizenMP:IV (GTAMods Wiki)
  4. Rockstar bans creators of FiveM multiplayer mod, claims it can "facilitate piracy" (PCGamesN, 2015-08) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  5. Take-Two reportedly sent private investigators to modder's home (PC Gamer, 2015-11) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  6. GTA 5 Modder Claims Private Investigators Visited His Home (GameSpot, 2015-11) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  7. Eclipse Roleplay (Eclipse RP) official
  8. ESX Legacy Documentation (ESX Framework) official
  9. NoPixel: The Most Famous GTA RP Server, Explained (GTA-Zone (fan site))
  10. Grand Theft Auto V Role-Playing Has Taken Over Twitch (Kotaku, 2019-04) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  11. GTA V soars 500% on Twitch thanks to the RP mod, NoPixel, and Summit1g (PCGamesN, 2019-04) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  12. The Metamorphosis of GTA V Online (on Twitch) (Gamesight)
  13. Announcing RedM for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC (Cfx.re/FiveM (X/Twitter), 2019-10) official · opens in your browser; the site may ask you to sign in
  14. RedM - the RDR 2 multiplayer modification (Cfx.re (redm.net)) official
  15. Tebex announces partnership with FiveM (Tebex (X/Twitter), 2020-03-27) official · opens in your browser; the site may ask you to sign in
  16. Announcing Tebex Partnership - Server Monetization / Commerce '2.0' (Cfx.re Community forum, 2020) official
  17. citizenfx/txAdmin README (GitHub (citizenfx)) official
  18. 250,000 concurrent players on the Cfx.re platform (Cfx.re/FiveM (X/Twitter), 2021-04) official · opens in your browser; the site may ask you to sign in
  19. Roleplay (RP) Servers (Rockstar Games Customer Support) official
  20. GTA roleplay servers can't include crypto, loot boxes, or NFTs (PCGamesN, 2022-11) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  21. Roleplay Community Update (Rockstar Games Newswire, 2023-08-11) official
  22. Rockstar buys the makers of the GTA Online FiveM mod it banned 8 years ago (PC Gamer, 2023-08) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  23. Rockstar has acquired a major modding community ahead of GTA 6 (TechRadar, 2023-08) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  24. GTA and RDR2's biggest roleplay communities have joined Rockstar Games (PCGamesN, 2023-08) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  25. Rockstar Games Creator Platform License Agreement (Cfx Support) official
  26. GTA 5 RP FiveM servers ban real-world cars and map imports following their acquisition by Rockstar (Sportskeeda, 2023-09) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  27. Community Pulse - January 2024 (Cfx.re Community forum, 2024-01-29) official
  28. Free Upgrade for Grand Theft Auto V on PC Coming March 4 (Rockstar Games Newswire, 2025) official
  29. overextended/oxmysql (GitHub (Overextended)) official
  30. Community Ox (GitHub (CommunityOx)) official
  31. End of support for Element Club subscription support through Patreon (Cfx Support) official
  32. FiveM For GTA V Enhanced Gets Development Update (RockstarINTEL)
  33. GTA 5 RP platform RageMP to close after Take-Two crackdown (Dexerto, 2026) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  34. Take-Two forces shutdown of Grand Theft Auto multiplayer modding platform Rage:MP (PC Gamer, 2026) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  35. alt:V Shuts Down 2026: Impact on FiveM & Migration Guide (FiveMX (community site), 2026)
  36. Introducing nopixel V (Rockstar Games Newswire, 2026-09-01) official
  37. Mod Guidelines (Rockstar Games, 2026-09-10) official
  38. Creator Platform License Agreement (Cfx.re / Rockstar Games (fivem.net), 2026-09-10) official
  39. Rockstar partners with NoPixel to launch GTA V roleplay on official PC Launcher (Notebookcheck, 2026-09)
  40. Ahead of GTA 6, Rockstar releases modding guidelines that axe new missions, maps, ports, and more (GamesRadar+, 2026-09) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check
  41. Support for Rockstar Games authorized roleplay and community-created servers (Rockstar Games Customer Support) official
  42. I found an unofficial GTA multiplayer server. Will I get in trouble for playing on or hosting one of these servers? (Rockstar Games Customer Support) official
  43. Rockstar Updates Mod Guidelines Ahead of GTA 6 Release (Insider Gaming, 2026-09) · opens in your browser; this publisher may show a quick human check

We summarise facts in our own words and link every source. Short quotes are credited. Links open the original publisher in a new tab; some publishers show a quick "are you human" check, a sign-in or a paywall first, which a normal browser gets through. We do not link to copies or archives of their pages.

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