Look, let's be honest, Rockstar Games is tightening the screws ahead of GTA 6 by dropping a fresh batch of user modding guidelines for its official modding platforms. Creators crafting mods for titles like GTA and Red Dead Redemption now have a clear rulebook to follow, which explicitly states that no payment platform can be used unless it's the one officially sanctioned by Rockstar Games.

Rockstar Games published the Mod Guidelines on its official website on September 10. These new rules target server administrators running private servers through Rockstar's official mod platforms FiveM and RedM, as well as the everyday players dropping into those servers.

The guidelines cover the usual suspects: do not impersonate official Rockstar branding, absolutely no third-party intellectual property or generative AI, no reselling assets bought from marketplaces, zero currency exchanges including cryptocurrencies, no paid loot boxes or random drop items, no crypto shilling, and no third-party ads. Even if you fancy mixing things up between Rockstar's own universes like GTA and Red Dead Redemption, combining maps, locations, characters, or storylines across different games is strictly off-limits.

The real kicker, though, is the payment platform clause. Creators must use strictly approved payment gateways authorised by Rockstar Games, meaning any unapproved monetisation is basically banned out of the gate. For instance, Tebex currently stands as the designated payment platform for FiveM in GTA 5. While Patreon and PayPal are not explicitly called out by name, running under Rockstar's policy of 'approved payment processors only' means creators are about to see their monetisation avenues shrink rather drastically.