GTA 5 Nintendo Switch Port Shuts Down After Developer Says Take-Two Took Action

An unofficial Nintendo Switch port of Grand Theft Auto 5 has been cancelled after its developer said Take-Two Interactive took action against the project shortly before it was expected to release.

Developer Mojso said Paralympics Productions will shut down on October 3, ending work on both the Switch and Android versions of GTA 5. The project was built using Rockstar source code that leaked online in 2023, with the team attempting to make the game run natively on ARM-based hardware.

Mojso said a new version of the project had been expected to arrive within days before development was stopped. Recent demonstrations had shown GTA 5 running on modified original Switch hardware, including open-world gameplay and story content.

The project was not an official Rockstar release and would not have worked on an unmodified retail Switch. Its developers had been adapting leaked PC source code for the ARM architecture used by Nintendo's hardware rather than recreating GTA 5 independently from scratch.

An Android version was being developed from the same work, giving the project a wider goal than the Switch port alone. Both have now been abandoned.

Mojso also ruled out releasing the unfinished code or passing the project to another developer, meaning the shutdown is intended to end development rather than move it elsewhere under a different team.

According to Mojso, Take-Two sent a cease-and-desist over the project. He said continuing development or releasing the project's code and assets could expose him to further legal action, including a possible lawsuit.

The developer chose to comply rather than challenge the company and said the team would shut down as a result. Mojso also thanked Take-Two for its "mercy," indicating that the dispute had not progressed into a lawsuit at the time of his statement.

Take-Two has not publicly detailed the action, so the description of the cease-and-desist and its terms comes from Mojso rather than an independent statement from the publisher.

That distinction matters because there is currently no public court case or separate Take-Two announcement setting out exactly what was demanded. What is confirmed from the developer's side is that work has stopped and the planned public release will no longer happen.

The project occupied a different position from a conventional mod or fan-made recreation because its development relied on proprietary Rockstar source code that had leaked online.

Instead of creating a new engine or independently rebuilding the game, the team was modifying leaked GTA 5 code to run on hardware Rockstar had never officially supported. That gave the project access to material belonging directly to the game's developer while also moving the software onto new platforms.

Rockstar has never released Grand Theft Auto 5 for Nintendo Switch, despite bringing the game to multiple generations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as PC.

The unofficial port had therefore attracted attention partly because it demonstrated the game running natively on Nintendo hardware that had never received an official version. With Paralympics Productions closing and Mojso saying the code will not be released, that work is now ending before the planned Switch build reaches players.