When GTA San Andreas got SUED over a secret adult minigame😳

In June 2005, a third-party modification called Hot Coffee revealed something hidden inside Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The original game contained a sexually explicit minigame that Rockstar had disabled, meaning players couldn't normally access it. But after the PC version was released, modders discovered a way to activate the content, and the discovery quickly spread across the internet. The problem for Rockstar was that the sexual content was still present on the game's discs, despite not being disclosed to the ESRB when the game was rated. Because of that, the ESRB revoked San Andreas' M rating and re-rated the game as Adults Only. Because many major retailers had policies against selling AO-rated games, stores across the United States pulled the game from their shelves. Take-Two stopped manufacturing the original version, recalled existing inventory, and released a new version with the Hot Coffee content removed. The company later reported that the re-rating and resulting returns cost it around 24.5 million dollars. Then came the lawsuits. Consumers accused Take-Two and Rockstar of misleading them by selling a game with undisclosed sexual content that could be accessed through mods. In 2007, the companies agreed to settle the consumer class-action lawsuits. Buyers of the original version could receive a replacement copy or, depending on their circumstances, a cash payment. Importantly, Take-Two and Rockstar did not admit liability or wrongdoing as part of that settlement. Outside of consumers, investors also sued Take-Two, arguing that the company had misled them about the Hot Coffee controversy and the effect it would have on the business. That case was eventually settled in 2009 for about 20.1 million dollars, with roughly 15.2 million paid by Take-Two's insurers and the remainder paid by the company. Separately, the Federal Trade Commission accused Take-Two and Rockstar of failing to disclose the hidden content to consumers, leading to another settlement. So while Rockstar didn't lose a courtroom battle that forced it to abandon San Andreas, the Hot Coffee scandal still caused enormous damage. The game temporarily received an Adults Only rating, retailers stopped selling it, millions of dollars were spent dealing with the fallout, and Rockstar had to release a modified version without the controversial content. All of this happened because a hidden piece of code that players normally couldn't access suddenly became one of the biggest controversies in gaming. #gaming #lawsuit #gtasanandreas