L.A. City Attorney Sues Grand Theft Auto Makers

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office has filed a lawsuit against the publishers of the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for allegedly hiding pornographic material in the game, according to news reports.

Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is suing Rockstar Games and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., for making misleading statements when marketing the game and engaging in unfair competition, The Associated Press reported.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, is part of an ongoing investigation into the marketing of video games, the report said.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, characters commit crimes, including murder, drug dealing and pimping. The game, which launched in 2004, also includes an embedded mini game, in which characters could engage in sexual acts, news reports stated. In July 2005, gamers unlocked the mini game dubbed “Hot Coffee.” In the game, characters refer to the sexual acts as hot coffee.

The video game carried a mature rating, but should have received an adults-only rating if the advisory board had known it contained explicit content, Delgadillo said. When the game rating was later changed, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Target and Best Buy stores were among select retailers that pulled the game from store shelves.

In response, Take-Two Interactive changed the game from its 17 and older rating to 18 and up and released the newly rated version without the explicit content, reports said.

Under the lawsuit, Delgadillo is seeking civil penalties from Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive and is asking the two to fully disclose the content of video games to consumers.