Rockstar, what are you doing?

This year, the company removed a popular feature to “Grand Theft Auto V”: Director’s Mode, which serves as a main hub to enjoy abilities that would otherwise only be accessible by cheats.

For a game series known for its mindless mayhem, it’s a must, especially for casual gamers who might not be interested in online play.

The catch is, it’s only for XBox One and PlayStation 4. Rockstar claims the removal is necessary in order to provide further updates to the game on current gen consoles.

1. I’m not buying it.

2. Was 13 years not enough time to milk this title?

I can’t see this as anything other than theft. When I paid for my copy of “GTA V” years ago, Director’s Mode was a prominent part of the product, and it ran fine until Rockstar yanked it away. If I disconnected my game from the internet, it would still have it, and I have no doubt that it can be easily modded back in.

Rockstar’s explanation that this was necessary also doesn’t add up.

What was so important that it could not be accomplished on last generation consoles?

If Rockstar had to abandon updating Director’s Mode on the PS4 and XBox One, what was the harm in letting the versions of the game stay outdated?

Why was it so important for the company to take this feature away?

The removal doesn’t make any sense unless it’s in the context of a board room meeting where someone had a bright idea on how to marginally increase sales. An outdated version of Director’s Mode does Rockstar no harm at all — it’s a feature not important to its online functions, where the majority of the game’s ongoing updates that has kept it active for the last decade go towards.

However, it does pressure those who have GTA V on last gen consoles to pick up another copy.

Or pester casual gamers like me, who have not bought a current gen console and have little concrete plans to, to upgrade.

It also prompts larger concerns on consumer protection. How much of a game’s software should gamers be entitled to have access to forever?

As the Federal Trade Commission explains in this post, gamers don’t necessarily own a copy of the software on the games they buy — they might only have a license to run it. Theoretically, if a company changes a game’s software so that the game is no longer playable, they can do so legally. Multiplayer-online only games have been doing this for years — once the player base for these types of games dwindles enough, their servers go dark and the games shut down.

While there is no way to keep online-only games alive forever, I believe gamers should have some level of ownership over their copy of the software. Offline features should be protected by the law — companies should not be allowed to make legitimate copies of a game nonfunctional just because they want to coerce players into buying more current copies.

Any equivalency for real-world goods is already illegal; General Electric can’t send a man to your home to smash your stove because it wants you to buy another one.

There is also the matter of the historical preservation of games, of which this removal is antithetical to. Anyone who wants to get the full experience of what it was like to play GTA V on last gen consoles now has no legal way to do so.

This is clearly an area where the law has not kept up with technology, a shortcoming that should be swiftly patched out.

And if Rockstar feels the need to take out major features of any of their other games, they should have the decency to issue partial refunds.

I paid for a full game. I should be able to play it. Give me back Director’s Mode, or give me my money back.