As we all know, the acquisition between Rockstar Games and Cfx.re was completed in August 2023. This marked a great new beginning for the Cfx.re team, who are behind the FiveM and RedM servers. FiveM and RedM are modification platforms that allow users to create their own servers with different types of games, such as racing, loop games, or custom jobs similar to GTA Online. This venture has been a great success, attracting over 100,000 daily players.

Internal Conflict Rockstar Games and Cfx.re

It was smooth at the beginning, with the Cfx.re team starting to work with Rockstar Studio, which also allowed work from home by providing confidential PCs. They were functioning as a team,

it’s very exciting to be linking up with Rockstar after having practically worshipped them for years. Even just talking to Rockstar officials, it was like talking to a celebrity every time. They’re very professional and keep things neat -- FiveM Dev

But after some time, the Cfx.re developer was fired from the Rockstar team due tocontract violations and misconduct. He created a toxic work environment, and FiveM was even suspended for some time due to his mental and emotional state, as well as mismanagement and poor leadership.

After this, there were internal conflicts among the Cfx.re team that led to the acquisition payment being halved. Continuous changes in the team’s hierarchy, driven by nepotism, created a toxic environment and made it difficult to work within the team. Additionally, they hired personnel from their competing platform AltV, and further mismanagement occurred.

We were basically treated like shit since the beginning and in the end, they got rid of all of us by putting us in an extremely toxic environment where we had to suffer from major mismanagement, lies on a regular basis, lack of any communication and lack of internal transparency.
Even despite all this, Rockstar still had an opportunity to handle it properly, but they didn’t. -- cfx.re employee

Replacing FiveM

Rockstar Games is secretly working on taking User-Generated Content (UGC) to the next level. Their vision is to make the GTA Online experience far more immersive by integrating their own mod engine, internally referred to as "Project Soundstage." Project Soundstage is also viewed as a strategic move to eventually replace the FiveM platform, a cornerstone of GTA community modding. By developing an internal mod engine, Rockstar gains complete control over hosting, assets, and microtransactions, ensuring a more cohesive and secure modding environment.

Conclusion

Well, this is just a rumor and the conflicts circulating on the internet regarding Rockstar Games and Cfx.re. However, this situation could be a positive sign for Rockstar Games as they work on creating their own mod engine, which might benefit future GTA titles, including Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6 Online).If successful, modding servers could potentially be available on consoles such as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Let’s hope for the best.