FiveM Was First Released in 2015
The immensely popular Grand Theft Auto V multiplayer mod FiveM was first released in 2015, marking a pivotal evolution in experiences possible within Rockstar‘s blockbuster open world. I still vividly remember the excitement stirring in the modding community when FiveM‘s revolutionary roleplaying framework was unveiled. Let‘s delve into the engrossing history of this game-changing mod and analyze its intertwining relationship with GTA V over the years.
Cfx.re Origins in 2014
While FiveM clearly captured widespread attention in 2015, its developer Mahdi Pourzaferani began laying the technical foundation in 2014 with the Cfx.re multiplayer modification framework for GTA IV and Max Payne 3. This served as a proof of concept before targeting the enlarged canvas of GTA V, with its sprawling Los Santos playground begging for innovative multiplayer ideas beyond Rockstar‘s rigidly structured GTA Online.
The transitional era between GTA IV and the impending GTA V release marked a period of experimentation in the modding scene to prepare for the upcoming title. Pourzaferani got a head start on dissecting RAGE, Rockstar‘s proprietary game engine powering their open world games. Identifying future possibilities unlocked by tapping into RAGE at a low level would greatly benefit Pourzaferani‘s visions for enabling customizable roleplaying experiences.
FiveM Public Release in February 2015
Building upon the Cayo Perico framework containing the networking and infrastructure backbone, Pourzaferani officially spun up the early FiveM build in February 2015. This first public release already allowed players to connect to servers running mods and scripts crafted by the nascent FiveM community.
The website‘s cryptic tagline of "a new hope for GTA V multiplayer" undoubtedly sparked imaginations for what was achievable by directly harnessing the incredible power of unmodded GTA V gameplay as a flexible base for community-driven creativity. I‘ll never forget seeing early FiveM test servers in 2015 filled with curiously investigating players as everyone fumbled with this tantalizing new toy teeming with possibilities.
Key Early Updates
- March 2015 – Custom game modes/scripts support added
- April 2015 – Developers and server hosts gain access
- May 2015 – Texture editing/modding capabilities introduced
- June 2015 – V1.0 with enhanced stability released
- July 2015 – Development console access granted
FiveM‘s Growth Sparks Developer Concerns
Riding a surging wave of enthusiasm around the flourishing GTA V mod scene, FiveM‘s momentum jolted once it hit a landmark 50,000 concurrent players milestone in mid 2016. Suddenly concerned eyes at Rockstar Games/Take-Two Interactive shifted to this unauthorized multiplayer modification demonstrating the power of PC modding to drastically transform gameplay concepts underpinning GTA V.
| Year | Concurrent Players |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 50,000 |
| 2017 | 100,000 |
| 2019 | 150,000 |
| 2021 | 250,000 |
Roleplaying servers utilizing FiveM as a platform were crafting intensely vibrant player-driven storylines beyond anything Take-Two could muster officially. Yet the publisher still desired firmer control over how GTA V was being fundamentally transformed.
Take-Two Forces Feature Restrictions
After years of unchecked growth empowering the passions of roleplayers thanks to FiveM‘s liberties, Take-Two finally slapped the project with a cease-and-desist in 2019. However negotiated concessions to disable certain features allowed the core FiveM framework facilitating custom servers to remain online, provided explicit gameplay elements enabling "piracy" were cut.
Per the settlement terms, Mahdi Pourzaferani agreed to disable the following components:
- Modding abilities
- Code injections
- Assets usage violating Take-Two copyrights
This neutered FiveM into more of a restricted platform rather than flexible development kit for the mod community. But losing some freedoms was deemed an acceptable compromise to keep roleplaying servers alive while satisfying corporate interests around monetizing GTA Online.
The Future with GTA 6 Potential
Even with handcuffs forced onto parts of FiveM‘s earlier freeform innovation, the multiplayer modification framework still boasts over 250,000 concurrent users nearly rivaling the native GTA Online player count. This underscores the craving for roleplaying experiences that bend GTA gameplay tropes into new directions not foreseen by Rockstar themselves.
I speculate FiveM will continue pushing boundaries given GTA 6 inevitably looming somewhere just over the horizon. Perhaps lessons learned from any past overreaches will inform smarter approaches for empowering community creativity without directly threatening corporate profits tied to the official game. The mod scene keeps these legendary titles culturally relevant many years beyond release.
Roleplaying servers grant players unmatched agency in collectively worldbuilding off the rich open world canvases offered by Rockstar‘s signature sandbox structure. This cooperative evolution of game worlds depends on forward-thinking platforms like FiveM, originating from Mahdi Pourzaferani‘s visionary spark in 2015 to enable new forms of multiplayer participation. What began eight years ago as an alternate multiplayer modification now fuels GTA V‘s popularity even so late into its life cycle, providing a portal where imaginations run free.
[1] PC Gamer – How a legal dispute changed FiveM, the GTA 5 roleplaying mod
