Tech Shout!

Take-Two Interactive Software, publishers of the popular video game Grand Theft Auto have agreed to settle with the Federal Trade Commission, which was examining the company over the “Hot Coffee” scandal – a hack that lets players to view adult, animated content within the game.

U.S. was extremely raged and reacted with horror to the very idea of a pixelled nipple and several Senators demanded action. Although accessing the content required users to download code and install it, the FTC ruled that the game’s publishers Take Two and Rockstar Games should have put a more restrictive age rating on the games.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board gave GTA an “M” for mature rating since it contains “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs”. But given that it also included a naked lady, it should have been given an AO rating - for Adults Only.

The re-rating, and recall of previous games, cost Take Two $24.5m. The publishers also provided a patch, which can be downloaded from www.nomorehotcoffee.com, to stop access to the racy scenes.

The agreement with the FTC requires the publishers to guarantee there is no such content in future games and that it fully discloses game content to the rating authority. Failure to do so will land them with fines of $11,000 per offence.

The whole FTC statement is here.

In January, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office sued the makers of “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” over the hidden sex scenes, seeking civil penalties from Take-Two. That case remains active, the city attorney’s office confirmed Thursday.