Inside the GTA mod that was so well-written its creators axed it to make their own game—and then returned to finish the job due to public demand

Over 20 years after Carl "CJ" Johnson first tore through Los Santos dual-wielding uzi submachine guns, two modders are bringing it back to life in a way Rockstar never did. Blue & Blood is an ambitious total conversion mod that reimagines the game from the other side of the law—not as a young gangster clawing his way up, but as a cop teetering on the edge of corruption.

The mod drops players into the boots of the LSPD’s most infamous unit, CRASH, in a story that blurs the line between justice and vice. The result is something gritty and unmistakably GTA, and it’s being built by two people: Cascavel, a veteran roleplayer and modder, and giacobbe, a software engineer with a lifelong love for the series.

Roleplay roots

For Cascavel, Blue & Blood was born out of San Andreas Multiplayer. He