Rockstar has halted production of all versions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and plans to release a censored version of the game, which is intended to conform to the initial "M" rating, later this year. On July 20, 2005, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was re-rated as "AO" (Adults Only) by the ESRB. However, this claim was undermined when codes were released on web forums for the PlayStation 2 Gameshark and AR Max CheatDevices that demonstrated that the controversial content was, indeed, built into the console versions.Ĭonfusing the issue is a recent version of the Hot Coffee mod which replaces the semi-nude girlfriends' textures with unclothed bitmaps that cannot be seen without the mod.
Initially, Rockstar released a statement that strongly suggested that the Hot Coffee content was entirely created by "hackers". The mod still exists and has been recreated for the PC version, as well as on Red Dead Redemption 2, but it no longer uses content locked in the actual game's files.In the middle of July 2005, the ESRB, as well as various politicians including Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), launched an investigation into the Hot Coffee mod. The Statue of Happiness, the game's version of the Statue of Liberty, has her likeness and is shown holding a cup of coffee. The developers even made a subtle dig at Clinton in GTA IV. The series managed to keep the game in circulation and even saw renewed interest due to the controversy. In the end, Rockstar re-released GTA: San Andreas with the content at the center of the controversy removed, leading the ESRB to drop the game back to Mature. RELATED: The Biggest Video Games Releasing in November 2021 The companies were eventually ordered by court mandate to display the ESRB rating game boxes and mention content related to the rating in any advertising for the game. Many parents were concerned the game would make kids want to become bullies themselves and lumped the title into the San Andreas controversy.
There was also a wave of new protests towards other games, especially Bully, also from Rockstar. While rating systems had always been enforced, it would now be up to the government to protect children from more risky content. Senators Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh brought forwards new legislation which called for a federal mandate of the ESRB's rating system.
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